American Express Settlement Advice

[Caramellady]

I've been helping my dad clean up his report, pyt history the last 2.5 yrs are stellar, no missed pyts but in early 2013 he had 2 charge offs from Amex for abt 3K for 1 and $1200 another, earlier this year they sent him offers to settle, he didn't know what to do so he never responded, when I started helping him last month I took a chance and sent letters to the address countering their offer requestig deletion, they've since only sent back letters of the original amount but they've started calling him daily leaving messages noting that the debt is about to 'move out of Amex'. They've sent no further offers of settlement. Should we call them back and still try to settle for their original offers (about 60% of the original debt if I remember correctly) or wait for whatever this 'move out of Amex' is as everything I've read online is that Amex doesn't delete from your report and if moving to a formal collection agency maybe we'll have a better chance of getting them off his report? I'm hesitant since I'm not sure what this 'move out of Amex' is and I don't want it to be them filing suit against him.

Important dates:

His first date of delinquency was 2/13
He took the cards out when he lived in NV which has a 4 yr statute (making next yr the fall off period in abt 6 mths which could be the 'move out of Amex' thing) BUT he now lives in Jersey with me which has a 6 yr statute, I've not been able to find which would apply, I would believe a argument could be made for NV since that was the understanding all parties were under when the account was opened.

Sorry this is so long but wanted to give you enough to give me some insight and I tried to anticipate what you may ask as best as I could.  Any feedback that could be provided I'd appreciate it.

[Clydesmom]

11 minutes ago, Caramellady said:

I'm hesitant since I'm not sure what this 'move out of Amex' is and I don't want it to be them filing suit against him.

It means they are going to send it to their local law firm and file suit.  They have plenty of time the NJ SOL will apply.

12 minutes ago, Caramellady said:

if moving to a formal collection agency maybe we'll have a better chance of getting them off his report?

No it would mean he would have AMEX on his reports as the original creditor AND the collection agency.  Even if the CA agreed to delete their trade line when he settled it would have no affect on the AMEX trade line what so ever.  And you are correct AMEX does not do PFD.

13 minutes ago, Caramellady said:

He took the cards out when he lived in NV which has a 4 yr statute (making next yr the fall off period in abt 6 mths which could be the 'move out of Amex' thing)

Fall off period for what?  The SOL for reporting the debt is based on Federal law which is 7 years 6 months from the date of delinquency which would mean they can report until 8/2020. If you mean the SOL for lawsuit the NJ 6 year SOL applies since that is where he lives now and they would have to sue him and that doesn't expire until 2/2019.

15 minutes ago, Caramellady said:

I would believe a argument could be made for NV since that was the understanding all parties were under when the account was opened.

You believe wrong.  Unless the SOL had expired in NV prior to his moving to NJ the 6 year NJ SOL will apply and NJ is VERY creditor friendly.

If AMEX will still settle I would do that if you wish to avoid being sued.  Threatening arbitration doesn't work with AMEX as they have followed many consumers into it at great expense.  

[Caramellady]

@Clydesmom thank you for your response.  I am new to this and trying to help him as he's older and doesn't really understand such things, he only fell behind when he fell ill and as you may understand some of the older generation kind of 'ignores' things they don't understand as if they will go away so my being younger I can research whereas he can't/won't.  But, back to the point, yes, I was talking about the SOL when I incorrectly noted 'falls off', you are correct, I did mean in terms of suing him.  

The research I had done those sued had much higher balances and were sued darn near right after they went into default, we had heard nothing from Amex for almost a year until as  I was going thru paperwork of his and found their offer letters but I'm willing to help him pay the matters off if they are willing to settle, I just went thru my notes and back in January they sent him the following offers, $1586 for the card that had been $2645 and $572 for the card that had been $1200, should we try to reactivate those offers when we reach out to them, go lower or not mention anything and wait to see what they offer this time?  I ask that as in looking at my notes I show that they had offered a slightly lower amount in December and then it looks like they went up by about 10% in their offer in January.  Any feedback you could provide again, would be greatly appreciated as I just want to help him put this behind him.

[WhoCares1000]

For the $2600 one, I would offer $1300 and for the $1200 one, I would offer $400 - $500 and see what happens. They will either come back with a counter or say they cannot do it and continue the lawsuit threat. I have to ask though, when you reach out to them, are they suddenly so interested in moving it out of AMEX whereas when it was ignored, they were not? That tells me they are trying to play hardball.

Note, any settlement you get MUST be in writing and should state for full settlement of the debt. You will then overnight them a bank cashiers check or money order. No electronic access to any bank accounts. If you follow these rules, you should be able to settle this with no problem.

[Caramellady]

3 hours ago, WhoCares1000 said:

For the $2600 one, I would offer $1300 and for the $1200 one, I would offer $400 - $500 and see what happens. They will either come back with a counter or say they cannot do it and continue the lawsuit threat. I have to ask though, when you reach out to them, are they suddenly so interested in moving it out of AMEX whereas when it was ignored, they were not? That tells me they are trying to play hardball.

Note, any settlement you get MUST be in writing and should state for full settlement of the debt. You will then overnight them a bank cashiers check or money order. No electronic access to any bank accounts. If you follow these rules, you should be able to settle this with no problem.

Thanks so much.  I did wonder why suddenly its a hot topic to call and push for settlement when he hadn't heard anything at all for almost a year when they had gone stone quiet until I reached out.  Part of me feels like its BS that its about to 'move out of Amex' but we both want this out of the way so if I can resolve it for him for something reasonable I will, since they made prior offers when thy could have sued early on, which is what most of the stories I've read indicates.  As you note I won't finalize anything in terms of exchanging money without something in writing which is another thing that surprises me, why all the calls when everything previously was in writing and I've also reached out via writing vs calls?  Interesting.

[WhoCares1000]

They are calling because they hope to get your father to make a mistake and pay them over, say the house payment. They use emotion to get people mad and it really does work. That is why you calmly make an offer. If they deny the offer, ask what their offer is. If you can't agree, then hang up and wait 2 weeks.

And so what if they sue. You can talk to the attorney then and work out a settlement. You are probably dealing with a higher level of person than AMEX collectors. The courts encourage settlements and cases like this are settled all of the time, even on the courthouse steps.

[Caramellady]

21 minutes ago, WhoCares1000 said:

They are calling because they hope to get your father to make a mistake and pay them over, say the house payment. They use emotion to get people mad and it really does work. That is why you calmly make an offer. If they deny the offer, ask what their offer is. If you can't agree, then hang up and wait 2 weeks.

And so what if they sue. You can talk to the attorney then and work out a settlement. You are probably dealing with a higher level of person than AMEX collectors. The courts encourage settlements and cases like this are settled all of the time, even on the courthouse steps.

Thanks so much.  Definitely intrigued me that they called now vs the letters of previous so basically they want a snap decision vs. time to mull, etc.  Acting on emotion vs. planned out thoughts/considerations of what he can really afford.  Again, thanks so much.