What monetary damages am I entitled to sue for??

[toby31]

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to the forum, hopefully I'm posting my query in the right thread... Long story short, American Express canceled my Blue Cash card in 2008 when my small business was effectively put out of business due to the failed economy. Up until that point, I had never made a payment late, let alone missed a payment in the five years we had done business. For the next while, I had trouble paying my mortgage, credit card payments and school loans. Be that as it may, American Express sent me a debt settlement offer June 2010 in order to pay off my account at a 60% discount. Without question, I was quick to accept their offer, wanting to satisfy my outstanding debt with them and starting to recover from a 150 point decline on my FICO score. Finally after making 16 payments through my bank account, my last payment was scheduled to come out of my account on November 19th. To my dismay, American Express never charged my account the final $50 that was owed and as of December 1st sent me a collection letter for the entire sum as if they never sent me the offer in the first place? As a result, I called AMEX directly insisting there must have been a mistake, but they refused to disclose any information regarding my canceled account and rudely said take it up with the debt collector. My next phone call was to Nationwide Credit Inc, and they were even less helpful than AMEX. After a serious of calls to both parties, AMEX would say I could setup a conference call through Nationwide with regards to my account and when I would insist for Nationwide to do so, they would say this wasn't possible. Finally after getting the run around for a week, I decided to send them a formal request in writing for them to verify this alleged debt vis-a-vis my rights per the FDCPA. After sending them two formal requests via certified mail (with return reciept) they have failed to respond. If that wasn't a big enough slap in the face, I continue to receive offers through AMEX to "settle my debt" that I don't owe in the first place. I feel like I have no other action other than to sue them in Small Claims Court, but I don't know if both guilty parties are to be named in the suit and to what damages I could request.

Is there precedent on cases llike these, which is clearly reminiscent to questionable bait and switch practices??

Any help would be greatly appreciated, because I refuse to pay these unethical individuals a penny more than the $50 I owe them and want to hold them accountabe for reporting this to my credit report.

Thanks in advance for your help,

toby31

Edited January 25, 2012 by toby31
concise title change

[1stStep]

If you've got the banks statements showing payments - except the last $50 owed, you're in a decent spot.

Write a letter to AMEX informing them of their failure to take their payment as scheduled and use the phrase "breach of contract."

As far as Nationwide, you did send a DV letter - and you're OK there...

If you wanted to go to court, it'd be an uphill battle...but you could sue for breach of contract and fraud...as far as damages go, it's tough to say.

[toby31]

If you've got the banks statements showing payments - except the last $50 owed, you're in a decent spot.

Write a letter to AMEX informing them of their failure to take their payment as scheduled and use the phrase "breach of contract."

As far as Nationwide, you did send a DV letter - and you're OK there...

If you wanted to go to court, it'd be an uphill battle...but you could sue for breach of contract and fraud...as far as damages go, it's tough to say.

Thanks for the timely reply, I appreciate it. Yes, I have all the bank statements indictating the previous payments were debited. The only thing I cannot locate is the June 2010 Amex settlement letter (we recently moved). Would you envision that being problematic?

[1stStep]

It could be...AMEX could claim there was no such agreement in place otherwise.

[Guest usctrojanalum]

Yeah, that could be an issue.

When the last payment did not come out of your account, did you contact them to reschedule it? Did you send them a letter with the final payment in the form of a check or money order?

[legaleagle]

If you can document paying this down to the last 50.00, they will look awfully stupid trying to rob you for the full original amount. Concentrate on putting that together. Absent the letter, you have a good case under accord and satisfaction. If you had no agreement, why would they accept payments for all this time without suing you? This is an "implied" contract. This is the same garbage they try to pull on consumers when they can't produce a contract. Us it back at them. Might not fly as fraud, but look into your state's unfair trade practices. Often you can get punitive damages. FDCPA will be a grand if you can make your case.

[toby31]

Yeah, that could be an issue.

When the last payment did not come out of your account, did you contact them to reschedule it? Did you send them a letter with the final payment in the form of a check or money order?

No, I was on vacation in Hawaii and didn't look at my online banking statement until I returned home. The first inkling that something wasn't right was when I received the debt collection letter from Nationwide claiming I owed the original amount (10 days later). I immediately called them and insisted there was a mistake and the only information they would disclose was I made a "single" payment the month earlier. They were totally evasive and it was apparent that they were wasting my time.

It seems to me like this was predetermined on their behalf, due to the relatively short amount of time the last payment was supposed to come out (the 20th of the month) and the time that I received the debt collection letter from Nationwide.

Thanks again for your help!!

[toby31]

If you can document paying this down to the last 50.00, they will look awfully stupid trying to rob you for the full original amount. Concentrate on putting that together. Absent the letter, you have a good case under accord and satisfaction. If you had no agreement, why would they accept payments for all this time without suing you? This is an "implied" contract. This is the same garbage they try to pull on consumers when they can't produce a contract. Us it back at them. Might not fly as fraud, but look into your state's unfair trade practices. Often you can get punitive damages. FDCPA will be a grand if you can make your case.

I sure can! All of the payments that were monthly debited from my bank explicitly name Amex as the payee, not Nationwide. Also, since either guilty party would disclose any information pertaining to my account on the phone, I was somehow able to get the entire payment history from their website (eventhough my account was canceled years ago).

Any resonable person could see the trend of 18 monthly payments made consecutively, who in and of itself would constitute a binding contract.

Thank you very much for your insight!

[legaleagle]

If this is legit as you say, which I assume it is, I would also file a bar complaint against the attorney who represented these jerks. Read up on the rules of professional conduct from the American Bar Assn. they are the same for every state. It may not go far, but it will make trouble for him / her / it as they will have to respond. You get a reprimand against them and they get NO MORE WORK in their field. Priceless. I know, I did it to 2 lawyers.