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Interesting situation. Need opinions from the experts... or people who know american Express

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09Lexie
Moderator Emerita

Re: Interesting situation. Need opinions from the experts... or people who know american Express

So did he upgrade the Gold to Plat or does he have a Gold and Plat?

Little confused based on your original post.
Message 11 of 71
BMW_M-Series
New Contributor

Re: Interesting situation. Need opinions from the experts... or people who know american Express

nothing seems to add up. 100k in bank and only making 16-20k a year and hes only 22 years old. tax free income? awesome parents? then he has 100k in the bank and only paying the minimum on 30k in charges? so he has 2 amex cards, platinum and the bluesky. platinum is PIF and if hes only paying the minimum on that im assuming he would have been cancelled a while back. unless all the charges are on his bluesky but only 22 years old and telling them 40k income, even with the 3x CLI about 3 times, i dont see amex giving him a 30k limit with only paying the minimum. 

 

lying on your income to get someone to extend you more credit is borderline fraud IMO. i can understand 10-20% like lexie said but 100% and your just asking for trouble.

 

if i were him i dont know what i would do. maybe try to convince amex that he had secondary income when he opened the account that he didnt list and then definitely PIF

Chase Sapphire Preferred - American Express Platinum - American Express PRG -American Express SPG -American Express BCP - BofA Cash Rewards Visa Siggy - Citi TYP - Discover IT - PenFed Gold

In Garden
Message 12 of 71
navigatethis12
Valued Contributor

Re: Interesting situation. Need opinions from the experts... or people who know american Express

Others have said that when income didn't match American Express either put a limit on the charge cards or reduced the limits on the credit cards, but they didn't close them. 20,000 is enough to have a credit card so I say they'd just lower their exposure to be more in line with his true income. People's income can change quickly so just because you put 100,000 since you will make that this year doesn't mean you should be punished because on taxes last year you only made 5,000.

Message 13 of 71
enharu
Super Contributor

Re: Interesting situation. Need opinions from the experts... or people who know american Express


@Jmdurbz wrote:

Hey let me try to keep this situation simple with the facts clearly listed. 

 

My Friend is currently 22 years old. 

 

My friend applied for Amex about 1.5 years ago. He claimed he made 40k a year. Honestly he probably made 16-20k.  This is essentially fraud. If I were your "friend", I would never submit those tax docs. It's essentially giving Amex a written confession that fraud has been commited. Amex is unlikely to press charges as long as your friend doesn't default on them, but you never know. Always better to be safe than sorry. Chances are even if he does submit them, Amex will still close the accounts, and possibly blacklist him for good. Unless, he can somehow explain the discrepancy such as through payslips, etc. However, since you said he fudged his income, I don't see how he can possibly explain that.

 

Since then he has aquired the AMEX GPR , upgraded to a Platinum and has a Amex BlueSky 

 

He has alot of money in his checking account around 100k as of Mid Summer.  Doesn't matter. Even if your "friend" has 6 digit balances in his bank account, he did commit fraud. There's no sugarcoating it.

 

From July - October he has spent 30k on his amex cards. ( Rolex, Tailored Suits, etc... ) 

 

He has the cash to pay it. But he has just been paying the minimum or a little over. Your "friend" has 100k in his bank account and he's paying only minimum? This story almost sounds too stupid / unbelievable to be true. Even if we're to assume it is true, 30k in revolving balances and making only minimum payments is receipe for FR / AA.

 

American Express has just requested tax forms to see his income. Told my friend 15 days to give information or close accounts. Like longtimelurker said, your "friend" ought to close those accounts on his own, learn from his mistakes and move away from Amex. Tell him to forget about getting any Amex cards for now.

 

Questions: 

 

Will american Express close the accounts for seeing he lied about income?  Most likely. 

Best case scenario: They CLD your "friend", and impose hard limits on his charge cards.

Worst case scenario: They close his accounts, and blacklist him.

 

Is him paying the minimum signaling a red flag. Possibly displaying a recent splurge he couldnt afford. Paying the minimum (or close to minimum) while dragging high balances is always a red flag for ANY lender. 

 

Will his real income showing make them change his credit lines? Yes, Amex will change his limits if they are nice to it. Most likely however, his accounts are gone for the near future.

 

or 

 

Will he supplying his tax forms simply solve all the problems american express would be having. It will not solve any problems Amex is having. The problem Amex is having is that they think your "friend" isn't going to pay them back. Paying Amex back in full will solve the problems Amex is having, but it won't solve your friend's.

  

Just asking for him because I find his situation interesting. Ugly is a better word.

 

Does spending always need to be assumed based on what you make? Depends. People sometimes charge more than what they make due to reimbursable company expenses. Most credit card companies are okay with it, as long as the amount isn't outrageously high. Credit card companies dont assume money already that could be in checking and savings accounts? Doesn't matter. Credit card debt is unsecured, and they have last dips to claim any of your "friend's" assets in the event of a default. There's no guarantee that money in the bank account today will still be there when your friend defaults on his credit card debt as well.


Edit: To add, if your friend can cook up some documents to explain the discrepancy in his tax docs vs. his income, he might be okay. but since you already said he made 20k and he claimed 40k, those scenarios wouldn't apply.

 

 

JPMorgan Palladium (100k), AmEx Platinum (NPSL), AmEx SPG (46k), AmEx BCP (42k), Chase Sapphire Preferred (47k), Citi Prestige (31k), Citi Thank You Preferred (27k), Citi Executive AAdvantage (25k), JPMorgan Ritz-Carlton (21k), Merrill+ (15k), US Bank Cash+ (22.5k), Wells Fargo (12k), Bloomingdale’s (12.4k), Chase Freedom (5k), Discover IT (5k).
Message 14 of 71
Jmdurbz
Established Member

Re: Interesting situation. Need opinions from the experts... or people who know american Express

The 100k is from his dad. 

 

Sorry. 

 

He has Gold and Plat. The gold has revolving (pay over time). 

 

He has paid off the 30k now, After two months of minimum payments. 

 

He currently has: 0 balance on the Plat, 3000 on bluesky, 6200 on gold card 

 

Hope this clarifies stuff

21 Year Old, College Student in NYC.

Discover IT - 2000 ; Chase Freedom - 2000 ; American Express GPR - NPSL ; American Express Delta Sky Miles Gold - 6000 ; Chase Saph Pref - 9000 ; Citi Thank You Pref - 9500

Message 15 of 71
09Lexie
Moderator Emerita

Re: Interesting situation. Need opinions from the experts... or people who know american Express

So, was he using the POT feature for these lavish expenditures?
Message 16 of 71
FinStar
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Interesting situation. Need opinions from the experts... or people who know american Express


@enharu wrote:

@Jmdurbz wrote:

Hey let me try to keep this situation simple with the facts clearly listed. 

 

My Friend is currently 22 years old. 

 

My friend applied for Amex about 1.5 years ago. He claimed he made 40k a year. Honestly he probably made 16-20k.  This is essentially fraud. If I were your "friend", I would never submit those tax docs. It's essentially giving Amex a written confession that fraud has been commited. Amex is unlikely to press charges as long as your friend doesn't default on them, but you never know. Always better to be safe than sorry. Chances are even if he does submit them, Amex will still close the accounts, and possibly blacklist him for good. Unless, he can somehow explain the discrepancy such as through payslips, etc. However, since you said he fudged his income, I don't see how he can possibly explain that.

 

Since then he has aquired the AMEX GPR , upgraded to a Platinum and has a Amex BlueSky 

 

He has alot of money in his checking account around 100k as of Mid Summer.  Doesn't matter. Even if your "friend" has 6 digit balances in his bank account, he did commit fraud. There's no sugarcoating it.

 

From July - October he has spent 30k on his amex cards. ( Rolex, Tailored Suits, etc... ) 

 

He has the cash to pay it. But he has just been paying the minimum or a little over. Your "friend" has 100k in his bank account and he's paying only minimum? This story almost sounds too stupid / unbelievable to be true. Even if we're to assume it is true, 30k in revolving balances and making only minimum payments is receipe for FR / AA.

 

American Express has just requested tax forms to see his income. Told my friend 15 days to give information or close accounts. Like longtimelurker said, your "friend" ought to close those accounts on his own, learn from his mistakes and move away from Amex. Tell him to forget about getting any Amex cards for now.

 

Questions: 

 

Will american Express close the accounts for seeing he lied about income?  Most likely. 

Best case scenario: They CLD your "friend", and impose hard limits on his charge cards.

Worst case scenario: They close his accounts, and blacklist him.

 

Is him paying the minimum signaling a red flag. Possibly displaying a recent splurge he couldnt afford. Paying the minimum (or close to minimum) while dragging high balances is always a red flag for ANY lender. 

 

Will his real income showing make them change his credit lines? Yes, Amex will change his limits if they are nice to it. Most likely however, his accounts are gone for the near future.

 

or 

 

Will he supplying his tax forms simply solve all the problems american express would be having. It will not solve any problems Amex is having. The problem Amex is having is that they think your "friend" isn't going to pay them back. Paying Amex back in full will solve the problems Amex is having, but it won't solve your friend's.

  

Just asking for him because I find his situation interesting. Ugly is a better word.

 

Does spending always need to be assumed based on what you make? Depends. People sometimes charge more than what they make due to reimbursable company expenses. Most credit card companies are okay with it, as long as the amount isn't outrageously high. Credit card companies dont assume money already that could be in checking and savings accounts? Doesn't matter. Credit card debt is unsecured, and they have last dips to claim any of your "friend's" assets in the event of a default. There's no guarantee that money in the bank account today will still be there when your friend defaults on his credit card debt as well.


Edit: To add, if your friend can cook up some documents to explain the discrepancy in his tax docs vs. his income, he might be okay. but since you already said he made 20k and he claimed 40k, those scenarios wouldn't apply.

 

 


I loved enharu's take/dissertation on this...ROFLMAO...spilled my tea - gonna have to brew some more!  Of course, no funny matter by any means when it comes to being accountable for these kinds of actions, especially when it involves a deception by fraud component...my response was more vanilla than this one !!  Smiley Very Happy

Message 17 of 71
Pat94108
Frequent Contributor

Re: Interesting situation. Need opinions from the experts... or people who know american Express

The initial story has a few loopholes. If he only makes 20k, how did he end up having 100k in his checking? Was it income ? In any case, let us know what happens to your friend but indeed, it doesn't look.

 

I can understand people rounding  up their income or adding an extra 5k, I have done it in the past with AMEX, but doubling your salary is pushing it. In addition, if he has that kind of money, it's a pity to have carried balances. He should have used his credit card then paid it off right away and rack up miles instead of balances. My advice is to pay them off and just close them. When Amex realizes the discrepancy, they might blacklist him and maybe your friend doesn't want to take that risk but honestly, a few things in the story don't add up.

 

Message 18 of 71
BMW_M-Series
New Contributor

Re: Interesting situation. Need opinions from the experts... or people who know american Express

im assuming he is still able to access his online account and make payments. i would go online tonight and PIF for the rest of the balances on his amex cards. i would do the same with his other credit cards because im assuming he has those charged up high too? if he does i would pay them off in full before they follow what amex is doing. 

Chase Sapphire Preferred - American Express Platinum - American Express PRG -American Express SPG -American Express BCP - BofA Cash Rewards Visa Siggy - Citi TYP - Discover IT - PenFed Gold

In Garden
Message 19 of 71
09Lexie
Moderator Emerita

Re: Interesting situation. Need opinions from the experts... or people who know american Express

While this situation raises several alarms; let's remember to be respectful and supportive of each other -friends too. Smiley Wink

Thanks!
Message 20 of 71
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