Do I have to deal with debt collectors for American Express?
I stopped paying my American Express account when I got laid off. I am working again, and it has taken this long to catch up with most bills. I want to tackle this one, but I cannot pay the full amount.
Can I call American Express and set up payments? I got an offer to pay less than the full amount from a different debt collector than who has my account now. Can I agree and set up payments for that amount with the new collection firm?
How can I deal with a debt collector for American Express?
—Maria
American Express handles little of the collection activity for the credit cards people fall behind paying. Your options for dealing with Amex accounts that are already placed with a debt collector, or collection law firm, are going to be limited to working things out with the collectors in most cases.
You can pay or settle with debt collectors on American Express credit cards at the different stages of collections. Below is general information about resolving an AMEX account. I can get more specific with each individual persons situation when you provide details using any of the three below boxes (ask a question, request a settlement estimate, schedule a call with me).
Be sure to read through all of the options I outline in this article, including how American Express will update your credit reports.
You are Less than Ninety Days Late with American Express
American Express has some programs available for repayment when you are struggling with your finances. You can call a customer service rep at AMEX, and if early enough (within a few months of missing payments), they can help you bring your account current, or enroll you in a temporary repayment plan. These plans are generally going to offer you a lower monthly credit card payment for several months, and often up to a year.
The lower AMEX bill is because they are dropping your interest rate down during the months you are on the hardship plan.
Try to avoid taking advantage of any short term payment plan if your financial setbacks are not just temporary. You have no assurance the AMEX will extend the lower payment plan once your time on the temporary plan is up. That means your monthly payments will go back up, and may still be out of reach.
American Express also regularly works with nonprofit credit counselors who can get your monthly payments reduced, and get your interest rate lowered for the life of the balance, or while paying through the counseling agency, which can last up to five years.
You can be current with your credit card payments and still work with a counselor to pay your American Express bill each month.
If you are not yet 3 or more months delinquent in paying your AMEX credit card, and would like to see if you can get a lower monthly payment for the life of the balance, I would encourage you to consult with a credit counselor and get an exact payment quote at 800-939-8357, choose option 1.
If you have more than one or two credit cards you are struggling with, a counselor can help you consolidate most or all of those accounts into one lower payment.
Unpaid American Express Credit Cards are Not Sold to Debt Buyers
One of the first things to point out to people dealing with American Express accounts in collection is that they do not sell debt.
Many major credit card issuers sell off some of their credit card bills (that remain unpaid long enough) to debt buyers. AMEX does not bundle up unpaid credit card accounts to sell off as a general practice. That is not to say AMEX will always retain ownership of their delinquent debts. Bank policies do change from time to time, and operational realities could lead to AMEX changes too. But for now, AMEX is ultimately the legal owner of your unpaid credit card account.
This is an important distinction to point out. There are situations where someone dealing with a debt buyer collecting will have additional strategies to consider.
Amex is also one of few credit card lenders of its size that has no internal recovery and collection department to speak of. That is not to say they are lacking in customer service for their credit card account holders who do call you frequently in the first couple of months you are late. But once your account is behind enough to be dropped into their collection pipeline, you are typically not going to be connected to internal AMEX collection resources. You are, more often than not, going to be routed to third party collectors that AMEX sent your account to.
If you have had financial setbacks that caused you to stop paying American Express, but your accounts are already out for collection, you are generally going to find that any payment arrangements you make, settlement offers you receive, or that we can help you negotiate, will go through the debt collector that is currently collecting for AMEX.
Settling Your American Express Account with a Debt Collector
The type of settlement you can realistically aim for with AMEX credit cards can depend on several things. Your account usage leading up to missing payments is sometimes part of the equation, and so is how collectable you look to the debt collector handling the account for AMEX.
Who the debt collector is can also impact your settlement opportunities. Not all American Express debt collectors are the same. Let me break this down a bit.
The most common debt collector is a working on a contingency. If they can get you to pay something through phone calls and mail, they get to keep a percentage of what you pay. American Express accounts can settle for as low as 25 percent of today’s balance with some of the collection agencies they use, while others may not settle for under 50 or even 60 percent.
There are files that are flagged for no settlement. Some of the reasons this may happen are:
- Your account with American Express is too new.
- Recent AMEX card cash advances.
- Amount owed consists largely of balance transfer.
- The balance owed at time of default was made up of mostly recent months credit usage, or big ticket items.
Being Sued for Your AMEX Debt
There are large debt collection law firms that pick up large blocks of AMEX accounts to collect. They will call and write to you in seemingly the same way as a third party debt collector I just described. But do not let the similarity fool you. Some of these attorney networks, like Zwicker and Associates, can and do file collection lawsuits with the courts shortly after sending you their first collection letter.
Smaller local collection attorneys may contact you about your unpaid American Express card. And any collection letter you receive from an attorney with letterhead showing an address in your state, or one neighboring you, is a clear indication that your risks of being sued to get you to pay have escalated.
Smaller AMEX balances, say under four thousand dollars, are less likely to go to collection attorneys.
Settlements with attorney debt collectors for American Express accounts, whether in or out of court, tend to be at 50 percent or higher. If you appear highly collectable, and are already being sued, decent settlement percentages are harder to negotiate. If you are reading this and have recently been sued for an AMEX account, let me know where you are at in the process using one of the three options below.
We have good success helping people settle with AMEX, even when sued, for under fifty percent, and also with getting the settlement set up over many months. The extra time to pay the settlement can often be the difference in your success!
What if you cannot pay right now?
You mentioned you are not able to pay what is owed, and would hopefully be able to get a payment plan to only pay back what a prior debt collector offered as a settlement. Unfortunately, those lower balance settlement offers usually come with an expiration date. You can try to negotiate the same deal with the new debt collector, but they are not bound by that prior offer, and settlement amounts you can realistically target can change dramatically the more time you need to make monthly payments.
Remember that a debt collector is all about how you need to pay them right now. Anything you say about how tough your finances are at the moment will circle back to what you can pay today and in the near future. Every communication from collectors is for the exclusive purpose of getting money from you. That is how debt collectors are, for the most part.
You need to be concerned with your whole financial picture, and not just this one bill. No matter what the sense of urgency you feel when you are dealing with collectors, always know your cash flow, and never agree to something you are the least bit concerned you will be able to follow through with.
Unless you are dealing with an attorney debt collector licensed in your state, or have already been sued for collection, you probably do not have a debt emergency. And while I do recommend taking advantage of some of the better offers to settle your AMEX accounts with debt collectors early on, you can only do what you can. And even if you are in late stage collections with AMEX (in the courts or about to be), you still have options to navigate the situation, and even delay things.
How AMEX Will Show on Your Credit Reports
If you are only late a couple months on your AMEX payments, they will be showing one or two 30 day late pays on your credit reports. It can still make sense to do a hardship plan in this situation. But if you are more than 2 months late I am typically a fan of settling with AMEX for less, as it could actually benefit your credit more than by getting back on track.
I know… it is weird that your credit could improve years faster from settling for less, than by paying all the money back over a longer period of time. We did not make this system, but we do have to operate in it.
Late payments do not go away. And when you settle a debt for less, AMEX is not going to delete their reporting. They will update it though, and to show there is now a zero balance, once you complete the settlement. This will often mean you are taking a negative credit item and getting it to reflect a zero balance sometimes in a matter of weeks or months, instead of making monthly payments on the full balance of a negative credit reporting item for years.
American Express will not do pay for delete. Most banks will not.
Oh… and I should point out that not paying your AMEX credit cards may result in losing miles and other points in rewards programs, and those not paying their full balances back may not be able to get approved for American Express accounts in the future.
About Michael Bovee
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Michael started CRN in 2004 with a mission to provide people in need with detailed debt and credit help and education. Michael has participated as an expert panelist in federal consumer protection rule making, collaborated on state law changes governing debt consolidation, has worked as an expert witness in court matters related to the debt relief industry, and is a regular contributor to several personal finance websites.
I cannot seem to get American Express to settle for less than 65% and Discover for 60%. I was able to settle Citi, Chase, and Cap One for around 35%. All account are around 150 days. Any strategies to get AmEx and Discover to 50%?
Settling with American Express accounts is typically done with outside collectors. Who you are dealing with can impact what you can save, or the way you negotiate.
Are you still having dialogue with American Express?
If you are dealing with a collection agency or law firm, who is it?
Hello,
I have an Amex account in collections with debt collection lawers modlin and slinsky. In June 2018, I had an outstanding debt of $12,000 and we came up with a payment arrangement that would last until 2021. I however, made a $4,000 payment back in May and continued to make my monthly payments. I started a new job at the beginning of the month and was unable to make a payment this month due to the fact that I had to pay rent and other bills. The lawfirm told me that I was violating the payment arrangement and could possibly take me to court. Should I be worried that they will sue me? I did miss one payment one time but since then, I have consistently made my payments. I only have about 1,600 left and paid over $10,000 over the course of the last 13 months.
They could sue, but it sounds like you could also end up paying it off and getting the suit dropped with as little you have left to pay.
If they get aggressive let me know and I can help you from there.
I have had a issue with American Ex Blue – which is for business . I do not think the signiture card is my signiture and AMX will not provide me with the signiture card .
Also the card is a business card and was taken out in my personal name not business name . It was taken out by my x-partner I believe .
I would raise this to a fraud level concern if the account was opened without your knowledge and is being used.
Below 50% with American Express is very fortunate. They are not easy to work with, congratulations on your settlement!
I have a few things in collections, and an old AMEX account is one of them. I got my account back in 2014 with a credit limit of $500. Some life stuff came up, and I stopped making payments. On my credit report, it says that AMEX still holds the debt. On my report, it says I owe them $1,000.
My Father offered to co-sign on a new credit line for me to help consolidate my debts (roughly $3,000). Is this a good idea?
Are you going to use some of the money to settle unpaid accounts? If you stopped paying in 2014 you may only have 2 years of bad credit reporting left. If AMEX is the only collection account, settling would make sense if it were me, but too many more accounts and I might just wait it out.
Hi Michael,
My situation is a business Amex Card which I have had for and used for my business transactions for 15 years. We carried the debt on that card forward from the Company afte I sold it into a sub-company of the parent which I kept. It has finally caught up with us, we are not late yet but cannot make the payments anymore which are basically all interest,, the current balance is in the 50k range (interest is accruing and most on a pay overtime amount.
Our next payment is coming due. My questions are, do I contact Amex when this month’s payment is due to let them know I can’t make the payments they are requiring now or in the near future and need to negotiate the debt way down or wait until it goes into collection? I had to pay them 10k over the past 45 days which about put us under. My business has slowed down and I am in a catch 22 where I can’t even ship my product in order to sell it and bring revenue in. The Company has no assets, of course I am the guarantor on the card, I have no assets per se they can come after. One other note, bankruptcy is not an option for me as we are an on-going business, I have had conversations with a couple of attorneys and debt relief companies, because this is a Company situation I am running into road blocks in the way of help. There has to be some way to get relief. Amex just got out of control with the large payments over the last 90 days they were requiring from us. Personally, I have never missed payments on any of my accounts and as you can imagine this one could stress the best of us out! Your thoughts?
You can click the get debt help tab in the upper right corner of any page on this site and create your user profile (secure and private), and when you get to the part where it says schedule to talk with an expert, bring up that calendar and pick the day and time you would like for me to call you to go over this.
Amex is a very different process to deal with when you cannot no longer maintain payments, or want to settle.
I have been receiving calls from a third party collector for American Express. He is quite harassing even though I’ve been making my monthly payments on my online American Express portal on an account that has been closed. He has called me at work which I have told him not to. How would I go about repaying a portion of this account debt vs the entire amount and not working with this individual?
What is the balance owed?
How much can you pull together in order to fund a one time lump sum settlement offer?
Who is the collection agency the collector works for?
About $7k due. At this point I can only pay $3k in a lump sum. The collector identifies himself as working for AMEX. When he first started calling I thought it was a scam because it’s not a list AMEX number. I also have never paid him over the phone like he demands, instead I log in to my AMEX online account and pay.
You have to be late with payments in order to settle an AMEX account for less. You may have fallen behind on a payment, and even though you are logging in monthly to make payments, AMEX is acting like you did not bring the account current.
Amex is super aggressive and can be a bit complicated to settle with. I generally recommend getting help settling AMEX debt. The professional help can pay for itself.
You can click on the get debt help tab in the upper right corner and complete a short profile and then click on talk to an expert to bring up my calendar and schedule a time to talk with me about strategies for AMEX, including bringing the account current and getting the collector off your back.
Recently received a summons from AMEX and their attorney(Modlin Slinsky. I have 20 days to respond and that is tomorrow. I spoke to their attorney last week but they were not interested in negotiating. Any suggestions on opening negotiating again? My debt occurred from Hurricane Irma and a child custody issue expenses and I’ve not been able top recover.
Hurricane Irma, How many days late were until the threat of lawsuit? What was the outcome?
My amex account went to GC Services aa few years ago, I’ve been paying them around $108 every month like clockwork and it doesnt look like im getting closer to paying my balance of $4,500 off anytime soon. I just got laid off 2 weeks ago and my husband has been out of work on disability for almost a year, neither of us can pay until one of us finds a job but when i spoke to GC on the phone this week, they said i cannot put a freeze or skip a payment amount. What are my options?
If you cannot pay, you don’t. You will want to come up with a plan to settle this at some point, and I can help you with that when the time is right (your finances are better), but right now it just is what it is.
Hi, dealing with Relin Goldstein and Crane. 4600 Amex balance last paid in December 2016. They are willing to settle for 3500 OR if i pay in full, I can qualify for the Optima program. Any idea on the affect on my credit report for paying off in full vs settling? I live in NY State and Relin is in Rochester.
Check out this video about settling debt for less vs paying in full. I cover it in more detail there, but there is no real difference to paying in full or settling for less, when it comes to credit reporting on an older collection account like this.
Hello. I’ve been reading thru the Q&A hoping to see a situation like mine regarding Amex but I didn’t really see one. So here is my question and if you don’t mind answering, I’d sincerely appreciate it. I am a single mom of 2 early 40’s with a relatively new Amex Gold card that I’ve used once and already paid off the balance and now it sits with zero balance. So I am currently having some dental issues that will most likely require full replacement. Implants and while I do have dental insurance, it’s not the best and I know I’ll have to come up with a chunk payment to pay for my dental work. I have a good full time job and receive zero child support. So my question is if i decide to use my Amex to pay for my dental work and then don’t repay the full amount the following month, what will happen?
Will I essentially, In the end, will I be sued and receive a judgement with my paychecks garnished? Or will they just continue to try and collect? Will garnishment be CERTAIN? what can I expect other than the obvious of lower credit credit score and collection calls?
I must have this dental work done and I don’t have any other liquid assets. I rent an apartment. Have an older car that I make payments on still monthly $205, I’m not even sure why they approved me for this Amex Gold card and I know I can’t afford to have it but still on the other hand am grateful that I happen to have it just for this type of emergency. Please let me know what are the most likely outcomes and certain outcomes for owing in the range of $5k, $10k, and $25k – please? I’m most concerned with garnishment. Will I be garnished!? Is it pretty much certain?
Thank you for your time and advice.
You have to be sued before garnishment or bank levy becomes a concern. That can happen with AMEX quicker than others, but assume you can drag the process of default out a year or more. Can you save up money in that time to deal with AMEX?
Amex will sometimes convert your gold card balance into a monthly payment. You can pursue that with them and still have access to future AMEX products.
There is often reason to have escalated lawsuit concerns with AMEX when your account is opened recently; has large transactions; followed by default.
Have you looked at whether your dental provider offers a credit product, like through Synchrony and their Care Credit brand? That might help you get the care you need and an affordable monthly payment without strategic default.
Thank you for responding! I super appreciate it! So actually I have a couple department store credit cards through Syncrony currently in good standing and about 5-6 years ago I had other dental work done and that was funded by Care Credit for around $5K. I tried at the time to make the payments but soon after lost a job and stopped making those payments. So I’m sure I won’t be approved for care credit again. My other thing is, so Amex isn’t like any other credit cards then in the respect that they will try to collect then just write it off? They go the full shabang themselves and just automatically sue? (After they exhaust their collection efforts?). What I mean is, for example, if I had a Kohls credit card lets say, and I stopped paying it, they would try to collect, call, and even send letters. But eventually I would never really hear from them again after the 7 year mark…but with Amex…. they will try to collect relentlessly then eventually Sue – correct?
Btw, I’m only exploring my options at the moment. I haven’t decided officially to strategically default just yet. I just recently started building back up my credit and have been doing good. But this dental issue is really a pressing issue that must be handled soon. And it is looking like this may be my only option…