Novice inline skaters have enough challenges staying upright, so it doesn't help when the bolts on your skates fall out while you're zooming down the greenway. Rollerblade USA issued a recall for 29,000 pairs of inline skates after 31 reports of loose bolts in the wheel axles and frame mounts of newly sold skates. The New Hampshire-based company knows of only one case in which a skater actually fell and needed medical treatment.

The skate models included certain Spark Pro skates for men and women and certain Spitfire skates for boys and girls. They sold online and in sporting goods stores from September 2009 through July 2010. The company recommends checking all wheel-axle and frame-mounting bolts to make sure they're properly tightened, after which the skates will be safe.

Get more information by calling Rollerblade USA at 1-800-232-7655 or go to www.rollerblade.com.

Avoid kennel horror stories

After getting hundreds of complaints about kennels, the Better Business Bureau urges pet owners to do a thorough background check.

"Owners say their pets came back from poor boarding kennels severely dehydrated and malnourished or rife with fleas, ticks, and even maggots," the BBB said in a news release last week. "Worst-case scenarios include pets that became extremely ill from their stay at poor facilities which resulted in lengthy stays at the animal hospital."

The BBB has created an 11-point checklist for would-be kennel customers, including checking it out with the BBB, visiting the facilities and checking hygiene, security and inspection history. For more information, contact the BBB of Minnesota and North Dakota at 1-800-646-6222.

Debts of the dead

How far can creditors go in collecting debts of dead people? If you've got a view on that, the Federal Trade Commission wants to hear it. The FTC has extended the public comment period until Dec. 1 on a policy that clarifies when the agency will take action against collection companies that contact relatives of the deceased.

The policy statement, published last month, clarifies whom debt collectors are allowed to contact, how they do it and "how collectors should avoid giving relatives the misleading impression that they are personally obligated to pay the debt from their own assets, rather than from the decedent's estate."

To read the policy, and add your comment, go to www.startribune.com/a9 or call 1-202-326-3224.

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