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
Short answer
In most cases, yes. American Express handles little of its own collection work, so once your account is placed with a debt collector or a collection law firm, any payment arrangement or settlement goes through that collector rather than through Amex.
Key points on this page
- Amex does not bundle up unpaid credit card accounts and sell them to debt buyers as a general practice, so Amex remains the legal owner of the debt.
- Amex has no internal recovery and collection department to speak of. Once the account is behind enough to enter the collection pipeline, you are routed to third party collectors.
- Under about 90 days late, Amex may bring you current or put you on a temporary hardship plan with a lower interest rate for several months, sometimes up to a year. Avoid that plan if the setback is not temporary, because the payment goes back up at the end.
- With contingency collection agencies, Amex accounts can settle as low as 25 percent of the current balance, while other agencies will not go below 50 or 60 percent. Some files are flagged for no settlement, usually where the account is new or the balance is mostly recent usage, cash advances, balance transfers or big ticket items.
- Attorney collectors, such as Zwicker and Associates, can file a collection lawsuit shortly after their first letter. Settlements at that stage tend to be 50 percent or higher. Balances under about four thousand dollars are less likely to go to a collection attorney.
- Amex will not delete its credit reporting and does not do pay for delete, but it does update the entry to a zero balance once the settlement is complete.
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 BoveeMichael 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. He is available to speak with you about your financial struggle and helps people resolve their debt problems daily.
I have an old American express account and i opened the account Jul 2008 so that means it’s been close for 8 years and 4 months isn’t it suppose to be off my credit report? And if i wanted to pay for the amount I says American express is my creditor but every time i call it asked me to enter my card number and it won’t let me go any further could someone help me out with find ingredients out how to resolve the issue??
When did you stop making payments to American Express? How much is owed as of now?
I made my last payment in August 15, 2016 and have yet to pay due to hours cut at work. I was told that if I don’t make a payment they will send my $4,400 to collections. I have no idea what to do. Could you give me some advise on how to settle with the debt collector. Because at this point I wont be able to pay them. People have been laid off already at my job and I believe i will be next soon.
When it comes to settling an AMEX account, it matters a lot who the collection agency is. When you know who they sent it to, post an update and lets go from there.
Hello Michael, your blog has very useful information and insight in handling credit card debt.
Here’s the situation. I have a Business Platinum account with an amount due of $13500 this cycle. After the next closing date $18200 more. I am not 30 days behind yet. The next payment for the current cycle is due by Nov 8. My account was opened in 2008 and has never been delinquent. Payments have always been made on time without fail. Unfortunately, the IRS has reclassified some of my 1099 recipients as w2 employees and has assessed more than 100k in back taxes. They have levied $50k from the business bank account which essentially cleaned out the account. We are in negotiations with them but these talks go slow. Because of this we are unable to pay the AMEX bill.
I’m wanting to call AMEX and close the account and see about a payment plan, say over 24 months. I’m not wanting to settle for a lesser amount. I want to pay the full amount and would have already had the IRS not levied my account. What should I disclose to AMEX in order to negotiate a settlement payment plan with them and more to the point. Is AMEX willing to consider such an arrangement or would I be wasting my time. Alternatively, short of paying the bill, what would be my best option to deal with the balance. Thanks in advance for your insight.
Call AMEX and go over your situation. If they do not have a workable option that can be mutually agreed upon, and you cannot make the required payment, they are going to do what they are going to anyway. I would skip any payment at that point, if it were me, and wait for your cash flow to solidify to the point you can then resolve the account with AMEX. That could mean a 12 to 24 month payment, or settling for less than what is owed a few months down the line.
Let me know how things develop and I can offer more feedback.
Hey Michael,
Contacted AMEX and reviews the situation with them. They flat out said that there was no program available, and when could they expect payment in full. I told them that the outlook was not for 4-6 months when finances were back to normal. But I could make payments in the mean time. They refused any payment plan. So at this point I’m 30 days I believe, and no repayment plan. What would be the next plan of attack short of paying it off of course when this other mess is settled?
Fill in the talk to Michael form in the right column. I will see that and email you to set up a phone consult. I can go over the scenarios you will likely be looking at over the course of the next few months. That will help you prepare.
I currently have an unpaid credit card debt with American Express for just under $10,000. They have sent the file to a credit collection law firm that can operate in our state. I have been served and responded to the summons. Since then, I have received a court date which is just about 2 weeks from now. I am working with a debt settlement program but it appears that no progress has been made on this account. I am not sure what to expect or prepare for the court date that I have coming up.
How much have you been able to set aside in order to settle with AMEX?
There is about $5000 in the settlement account and i could probably scrape together a little more.
You are in good shape to settle the account then. Is the coming court date a status thing or on a motion?
What other accounts do you have left to settle after this?
I think it is a motion thing. We have 3 other accounts to settle. Do I let the debt settlement company try to settle or do I call myself?
Fill in the talk to Michael form in the right column and when I get that I will email you to set up a phone consult time. I will be better able to suggest next steps during that call.
I filled in the form. Upon further investigation with the debt settlement company I hired I think I discovered that they sent an offer to the law firm with the wrong credit card account number and they did not get a reply. Now they want me to present the same offer at my hearing for a summary judgement. Any Advice???
Sorry, but the form submission did not go through. You can reach me at 800-939-8357, ext 2.
You can go to court and make an offer to the attorney for AMEX. It is not uncommon to settle a credit card collection lawsuit while at court.
While applying for a mortgage loan, I discovered that American Express has reported a charge off to the credit bureau on an account in which the debt was settled with the help of a debt settlement company. I have the letter from the debt collection agency (MRS Associates of New Jersey) to prove a settlement was reached for 4o% of the balance owed. The settlement amount was paid off in March 2014; however, I am not sure when the charge off was reported by Amex. I want to remedy this in order to increase my chances of qualifying for a home loan. How should I go about getting the charge off removed from my credit report?
The charge off stays for up to 7 and one half years from when you stopped paying AMEX. This is normal and to be expected. The Amex reporting should show a zero balance owed now, since it has been settled. If that is not the case let me know and we can go from there.
A paid collection will not necessarily prevent you from getting a home loan.
Thanks for your response Michael. Unfortunately Amex has not reported a zero balance. The balance that’s showing on my credit report as being owed still is the remaining balance after paying the settlement amount, All other factors considered, my mortgage consultant says this is one of the main things I need to remedy in order to increase my chances of obtaining a home loan. How do I get them to report a zero balance?
I would file a credit reporting complaint against AMEX with the CFPB.
Let me know the outcome.
I’m being sued for $14,669. by American Express through Zwicker & Associates out of Round Rock, Texas. I live in Texas & my husband hasn’t been able to work full time because of health issues. My job has cut my hours & we have other debt. I need to file a written answer with the county clerk by Monday the 17th of October. I called & talked to someone at Zwicker. She said I would need a down payment of $4,319 & monthly payments of $450 which I can not afford at this time.
I would file an answer in order to buy time to come up with the right solution for you. You would need to come up with half the balance to settle in a lump sum.
Have you looked into chapter 7 bankruptcy?
My inlaws are in their 80s with failing health and diminishing cognition. For these reasons my wife and I have taken over managing their finances. What we found is a real mess.
For 6 years or more it appears they charged about $1500 per month on their AmEx card and paid only the minimum amount due thru auto bank draft without ever looking at a bill. The $13k balance in 2010 is now up $28k. During this time span we estimate they have paid over $100k on principal and over $20k in interest while more than doubling the balance. The most recent statement included the factoid that at the current payment rate it will take 36 years to pay off.
So far the acct is current but my wife has cut up the card. AmEx has not been consulted.
There are several other credit cards with more manageable balances that we have managed to payoff and close, or will settle very soon.
I am posting here for advice on how to best handle this AmEx debt. Both of my inlaws are likely to need relocation to assisted living within a year and their all of their retirement income will be needed for that.
Factors to consider are that my inlaws live in VA and have a good pension of $5K per month, but they have been spending $5300 per month. $3k to service credit card debt. Their pension is railroad retirement which we understand is not subject to garnishment. Their home has a reverse mortgage that was paid on a lump sum and already spent which I think would preclude the home from being subject to any judgement. They have no savings, only small life insurance and long term care policies.
Should we continue making min payments until all their money is needed for assisted living and then say, sorry, AmEx, there is nothing left for you? Should we stop paying and hope for a payment plan? And are my inlaws as lawsuit proof as I think they are? We have wondered about bankruptcy but wonder if they would pass or fail the means test and be placed on a payment plan.
As for any action affecting their credit rating we don’t think that is an issue. They have demonstrated the inability to manage their debts in good health and certainly have no business with credit cards at this stage in their lives.
Your advice is greatly appreciated.
Chapter 7 would be the cleanest and quickest solution. The means test varies depending on the state. Where do they live?
You are not wrong about them being judgment proof to a large degree. It may not make sense to pay at all, or to file bankruptcy.
My in-laws live in Virginia..
Virginia chapter 7 means test for a household of two is roughly 65k. It looks they could qualify for the chapter 7.
Hello , I am American Express member for more than 20 years. In these past 20 years I saved 600,000 membership rewards. I hold a corporate Business platinum card. I had a $3000 balance that was not paid , and unfortunately I left unattended . in this time The balance is with a collecting agency , the one you refer in this article.
I am willing to pay the balance in full but the only way to get my points back is that that same card be reinstate . no one can give me an answer if I will be able to get that card reinstated. And for me to pay the balance is a big deal right now so I am torn . I can get the cash but I do not know where to get the answer if I have a chance to get that card reinstate . the account was close april 20 2016.
I highly doubt you would be able to get a closed account reinstated, and from 5 months ago. You would look to the executive offices at AMEX for an answer to that.
I forgot about the fact that since Amx closed the account that really is mine I lost all my points. If the complaint comes back in my favor and they take my name off the Gold Business card that I had wrote you about I assume my points will still be gone forever?? I don’t know how much Amx outsources but every time I have called to speak to someone there the person is not located in the USA
You might want to call a very small research and recovery department number on Monday and see if they can help you. If you like, I can email you the number?
Ok Thanks- still waiting for a response on my complaint to the CFPB
Hi Michael,
My husband is currently being sued by AMEX but hired a law firm to represent him in April. We live in the state of Texas. The summary judgement hearing is this Friday and we are both very frightened as we have never been involved in any legal matters whatsoever. My husband started a business in 2013 and we weren’t very prepared for the extra costs and drop in pay. Looking back, it wasn’t a good time to start it but we were very optimistic and had plenty of savings. Things quickly spiraled out of control and we lived off of credit cards after we had gone through savings and now we have about $85,000 of credit card debt we haven’t been able to pay since last year. AMEX is currently the only company suing for a balance of $18,000. The law firm seems to be handling everything but they are not good at answering questions.
If my husband gets a summary judgment against him, how quickly can they (if they can at all) garnish wages? Can they just take any amount they choose? My husband works in the finance industry and filing for bankruptcy would basically mean he couldn’t get a job in his field for the next 10 years, if ever. His degrees are in finance and it truly is his passion in life. Not being able to work in that field would devastate him. We are also just barely able to begin to pay costs outside of our vital expenses. AMEX never offered us the opportunity to settle with them or make lower payments. We continued making lower than the minimum payments for as long as we could and that did not stop our account from going into collections. I understand in their mindset we had stopped fulfilling our contract with them. I know it seems ironic that he works in finance and yet is in this situation but it was just a lot of unexpected things at once and we lost control of our finances.. The law firm is working on a settlement with them every day but they do not want to agree to what we can afford to pay. The lawyer stated they can settle any time up to the date of court but I’m not sure settling is possible at this point with so few days to go before the hearing. I’m trying to understand the legal aspects of this situation. Thank you for your reply and for taking the time to read this. Have a great day!
Texas wages are exempt. Bank accounts with his name on them are at risk of a levy, and a lien placed on property.
Negotiating and settling credit cards with American Express is just different than with all other banks right now. Call in for a consult about what I would do from here. I want to ask some detailed questions first. You can reach me at 800-939-8357, ext 2.
Sorry I did not see my post yesterday so I re-did it this morning. I also wanted to add that when the collection person from Amx called she read me a list of names of people who had been authorized card holders. Some of the names she stated were employees of the company that worked there BEFORE I even started working there.
My mother was just sued by American Express along with my business for an outstanding debt of $22,780.13. Their debt collectors were harassing us to the point where I ended up calling the CFPB to stop them. We want to settle the debt out of court and pay a manageable monthly fee of $200 per month until we pay the whole thing off, but we don’t know where to turn. We don’t need bankruptcy as our other credit cards are fine. What should my mother and I do in dealing with American Express?
You cannot force them to accept the $200 a month. Can you pull together half the amount owed in, say 12 months?
I left the company that I worked for 5 years ago. I had an Amx Business Gold Card that was in my name. I turned it in when I quit. It was a supplemental card. I was not the primary. I just found out that the company that I worked for has just defaulted on this card and Amx has me listed as the primary card holder and wants me to pay the debt. It is over $7000. According to Amx this card was opened in 1992. I did not even start working at this company until 2001. Amx has said that I have accepted liability since I have been paying this card for the past 5 years. Amx has requested letters from the banks in question . I have sent them letters from all banks stating that I have never had bank accounts with their banks. It has been the company that I worked for that has been paying until now. Last letter from Amx was last week stating that I am the owner of the business. I just faxed a reply stating that this business in question is a corporation and I was never a principal, owner or signer on any bank accounts. My boss had already established this business card prior to when I worked there. She put me on as an authorized user. I don’t know how I got to be the primary card holder. I have explained all this to Amx but am not having luck getting my name off the account. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks
All the charges made on this card for the past five years as far as I know are on the card that is issued in my ex-boss’s name
I would file a complaint with the CFPB about your issue with AMEX. Check out this article for more about what that means and what to expect from it: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/filing-complaints-with-the-cfpb/
The CFPB complaint portal at banks and collectors is managed by people with the skill set to review the issue and correct it quickly, and without too much trouble when the outcome is obvious. The CFPB is your partner in the complaint process and monitoring AMEX in the process.
Please let me know the outcome.
Thanks I just filed a complaint. So far I have only gotten a couple of collection calls from Amx and have not heard from them in a couple of weeks.
How long does it normally take from the time that they start calling to collect to when they decide to take someone to court for the money?
Do they call and let you know that they are going to sue?
You can be sued within a few weeks of hearing from a third party debt collector, all the way to never being sued. The best indicator is when you get a collection notice from an attorney whose letterhead shows they have an office in your state.
Please post updates on your CFPB complaint.
I filed the complaint against Amx and under desired outcome I put I wanted my name off the account and have this taken off my credit reports.
Do I need to file a complaint against each credit bureau as well or should I just hope that once Amx takes care of it it will come off my credit report.
I tried disputing it myself with the credit agencies and had no luck Thanks
Let’s see what happens with the complaint. With a failed dispute with the credit bureaus already, you may have to escalate this further depending the dispute results with AMEX.
Just received a reply from Amx which states that the account was opened in 1992 but I assumed responsibility in 2002 (which I did not I just got put on as an authorized user). They are opening another fraud investigation. My former company (the ones that have used this card for the past 5 years) have made arrangements to start paying this off . I have retained an attorney to help me get it off my credit report. The 3 bureaus will not take it off.
Keep me posted with how the rest of this develops Ellen.
Have you ever heard of an Amx account that was already established having it’s primary card holder changed 10 years later? For some reason when my boss put me on as an authorized user (1o years after the credit card account was opened) instead of being just an additional card holder the account changed making me the primary. Have you ever seen that happen?
I have seen some odd one of situations like this with AMEX. It may not be fixable on their end, but that does not mean you should be on the hook for their mistake.
I currently have a charged off amount of debt with American Express of $2200. I am currently working with a debt settlement company and American Express is the last debt I have left to settle. From what I’ve read in previous comments….American Express doesn’t deal with these companies? I don’t want to continue making monthly payments to the debt settlement company (including) their fees if they are able to negotiate on my behalf?
Who is the current or last known debt collector AMEX had your account with?
American Recovery Services
You can put a deal together with ARS on your own.
This is a wonderful, and very informative read, but I have a question directly related to my particular situation.
I open and AMEX account in late 2011 and paid on it for only a couple of months and then immediately lost my job. It was a charge card, so the entire balance was due at the end of the month. I only owe about $3000 but was unable to pay for it at the time. Over the years they have threatened to sue me and offered me settlements and offered me another AMEX card if I pay off the debt I owe. That is the option I want to go with. I want to pay them, and then get the card they are telling me I can have, however, I don’t want to pay them all of this money and then them wiggle their way out of holding up their end of the deal based on something we didn’t discuss. They say that this offer is only available if I pay the balance in full, but I have read were people have paid partial balance and still were able to take advantage of the offer. Do you have any insight on this situation?
My experiences suggest AMEX will not offer another account if you fall short of paying the balance. But I am aware of mistakes that have happened where accounts were opened later on.
Amex does not really represent much advantage over other credit cards. There is too much competition out there. But I understand paying full freight if you want another AMEX card again.
Michael – I have a default judgement from AMEX handled by zwicker, they already have a non effective writ of garnishment against me — the amount is 13700 — is there anyway to settle?
You can settle Amex judgments. Give me a call to go over your situation at 800-939-8357, ext 2, or fill in the talk to Michael form in the right column on this page.
Amex is after me for about $14k outstanding that is from about a year ago. My small biz is just not making the kind of money that it used to. I was served yesterday and would like some advise on my next move. I currently have about $3k in savings and a few land lots worth about $6k each that are paid for.
Fill in the talk to Michael form in the right column. I will email you to set up a time for a phone consult to go over your situation.
What do you charge for your services
If we offer help, everyone here charges 15% of savings, after you pay the creditor/collector. There is no other fee. We do not take on all files that come to us. You can fill out the talk to Michael form in the right column if you would like to talk over your situation.
When can you start working on my issue? What else do I need to do
You will have to schedule a phone consult Tony. You can email the same address you get these comment notifications from, fill in the talk to Michael form in the right column, or call me at 800-939-8357, ext 2.
I have been unable to pay any of my credit cards for months now. Amex being one of them. We’ve been getting calls and letters, and since finances are so difficult right now, we’re eating and paying utility bills and mortgage, nothing else.
Last week we received a letter from Zwicker, they are suing me. Card is in my name. I’m a bit scared. My husband said they cannot do anything to me. We are 3 months behind on mortgage. We owe Amex $5000+. I did just cash out a stock so Amex doesn’t take it, and I’ll pay that towards the mortgage and that will bring us almost current.
Not sure what to do. How to prepare for this. Letter said to go to court on the 20th Monday after something. To me, that is unclear when to go. I have no idea what to bring with me. Paystubs to show them what I earn and why I can’t pay?
Do I need an attorney that I can’t afford?
Thank you,
Daliah
What do all of your unsecured debts add up to (not just AMEX)? How many months behind on all of them are you? Let’s start with worst case scenarios on how to handle Zwicker and work back from there.
Including Amex, we owe approx $45,000. It may be more, there are just too many bills. We are over 6 months behind. At least since February.
Read up about why it might be best to look into filing chapter 7 bankruptcy. You could wipe out the AMEX concern, and the other debts too, for under 2k and have a fresh start in 90 days.
Have you looked into it?
Yes. We have the paperwork. We’ve just been dragging our feet. We now have to just do it. It’s really that fast? I think the paperwork looked daunting.
Thank you
The court process is that fast. Filling out the forms just is what it is.
I simply refuse to do any future business with American Express. They are loansharks and take advantage of their clients bad situations. They have also been sued for misleading clients and lost. When I pay our debt off, I will never open an American Express account again and never buy any of their products, including travelers checks, which I always bought in the past. Visa travelers checks work just as well and are accepted by more banks overseas anyway.
Zwicker worked for over a year to collect an AMEX debt, but now I have a letter from a different company called ARSI American Recovery Services Inc. Did ARSI buy the debt from Zwicker? If so, what price did they pay? Should I call them?
American Express does not sell debt. ARSI is collecting for AMEX. If you want to settle you will have to work that out with the collector at the time you are trying to reach your goal.
So Zwicker never sued?
I have an outstanding balance with AmEX – 2 years old. I had a strange situation – AmEx closed an account for fraud reasons and yet still allowed charges to go through … for TWO YEARS!!!! I made numerous calls – to no avail. Consequently, my credit score has taken a hit – it is the only negative entry on there. I have debt collectors calling on an daily (hourly) basis.
My question(s) – if I pay the debt collector – will it have ANY effect on my credit score? Is there a difference in settling an amount or paying in full – in terms of my credit score?
After this long in collections there will be little difference in the benefit to your credit score from paying in full, or settling for less. Your credit is going to improve from the zero balance reporting that AMEX will update. You get there from paying the full balance, or less than that.
I am concerned about the fraud issue that AMEX ignored. Can you share more about that?
Hi Michael, I had 2 business and 1 personal credit card accounts with Amex. After I had an injury back in January, I couldn’t pay the business gold account in full. That was an account needs to be paid in full for each statement period. The balance was around $13K and within the last 6-7 months I brought it down to $7,300 and 2 weeks ago They canceled all 3 accounts and referred my business gold to GC Services for collections. Today I logged in to Amex website and I can still make smaller payments towards my Gold Account. What do you think is my best option in this case? Besides the Business Gold I have Simply Cash business with 4k and blue personal with 3k balance. I was making the minimum payments for The simply cash and blue until they were just canceled so they are not at the collections stage yet. Thank you for your help.
Can you afford to make payments on all of them moving forward? Now that the accounts are closed, it could make sense to consolidate all three accounts with AMEX. I can see how settling all three AMEX accounts could make sense for you too.
Fill in the talk to Michael form in the right column of this page and we can email each other to set up a time to talk on the phone. I will outline what both options will look like, and see which one makes the most sense given you financial ability and near term goals.
Thank you, I will fill the form and hope to get this resolved.
Been behind on two Amex accounts since Dec2015. One being about 1500 on my enrollement listing with NDR, other 5500 from a ‘July statement’ Back in Mar this year, they put my 1500 account to collections with Firstsource Advantage LLC, then later in May, they moved it to Zwicker. The 5500 is with Central Credit Services LLC
I’ve had been enrolled with NationalDebtRelief and by extension, Law Offices of Robert S. Gitmeid, PLLC (as Client Retainer for anything relating to Collection Action,) since I’ve been behind in Dec, Had enrolled two other accounts, non-Amex with them as well, one being paid off by settlement this month.
However, today just gotten a third party letter(Advertising Material by local Law Firm) stating to help with Bankruptcy because of a lawsuit filed against me by Amex, on the letter it has a case number and when I checked the District Court website, it has Amex with attorney of Zwick & associates, with a filing date of 4 days ago, the 16th, the letter dated from the 17th. Records list no Service/Process and aside from hearing date, my name and Amex, nothing else is listed. Currently waiting to hear back from NDR, but should I seriously consider go with more local options? Local being Northern Virginia area.
Settling with AMEX has become more of an intricate process than ever before. It is going to help to have outside assistance, but I would wait to see what it is that Gitmeid has to offer before connecting with another resource.
Post an update with what that is, and I can offer feedback about more productive alternatives.