American Express scam?

[Anonymous]

I'm new here, so I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right place. If not, sorry!

Eleven years ago we had some financial problems and fell behind on our American Express payments. The amount was about $8000, and they closed the account and sent a collection agency after us. The agency offered a buy-out, but I declined, saying that we DID owe the money and would pay it in full. That was apparently the wrong answer, and a letter from an attorney followed stating that they would sue and demanding 20 postdated checks for payment.

I sent the checks to the lawyer, and month by month they were cashed, right down to the last one. At least one of them was cashed early (wish I had had the presence of mind to sue them over that). After all of the checks were cashed, we got a letter from American Express saying that we owed them another $324 dollars. Since I had sent the exact amount demanded and all of the checks were cashed, I failed to see why we owed them any more. I called American Express and got no where. In fact, I got less than nowhere because by the time i reached a supervisor, she was very aggressive and threatening and eventually hung up on me! (Her supposed name was Cathy [edited] -- I still have the file on all of this!)

A year ago, American Express called. I told the man I did not owe the money, never had owed the money, and I was giving him notice not to contact me again by phone. Now I am getting several calls a week from American Express. Always a machine with a number to call back. I also have a stack of collection letters which have been arriving every month or two. This imaginary debt is now 10 years old and they're still harassing me.

One of the letters said that if I paid off the (now) $514, I could qualify for an Optima card.

My question now -- ignoring the fact that I despise Amex and their aggressive, unethical practices -- is SHOULD I pay the jerks the $514 on the premise that they would give me the card and end this unbelievable track record of harassment? If I did that, is there some trick they're up to -- such as getting the statute of limitations to reset and then trying to sue me for more -- or getting the $514 and then not giving me the card on some fake premise they would make up?

Has anyone else had experience with this type of thing?

Any recommendations or information would be greatly appreciated. 

Edited to remove personal information. Please do not share personal information belonging to yourself or another on the forums. Thank you-- sidewinder

Message Edited by sidewinder on 04-23-2009 06:42 AM

[llecs]

Welcome to the forums!!

Sounds like the CA didn't report all the payments to Amex. Do you still have proof of those 20 payments? Do you still have a copy of the agreement between Amex and yourself or the CA/attorney and yourself?

I would write Amex and ask for an accounting of the amount they owed. Also ask for info showing you had made the payments. Match it with yours. Maybe the attorney failed to include interest charges that Amex was adding. After getting that info, then I would write Amex back showing that the payments were made and that everything was paid in full based on the prior agreement and that should clear it up.

Has your SOL expired? Be sure to base it on the date your last check cleared.

The offer that Amex is putting forth is called the Oasis program and is legit.

FYI, it is illegal for a collector to ask for post-dated checks.

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for the reply!

I am assuming the statute of limitations has expired since we made the last payment on this account in 2000, having sent the 20 postdated checks in 1998. The checks were written on a credit union account that provided us with a monthly statement listing cleared check numbers but no copy of the actual check. So I could prove by check numbers that the entire amount was paid, but I wouldn't have copies of cleared checks to show.

Your comment about the illegality of a collector asking for postdated checks is interesting. Actually, they demanded them -- said they would sue me if I didn't send them the checks within 14 days.

I believe it's also illegal for American Express to continue calling me when I have specifically told them not to contact me by phone. That has had absolutely no effect, and the large number of calls they've made in a steady stream is almost comical. These people are unbelievable.

I recently heard that if a collector continues to contact you by phone after you have told them to stop, you can sue them for $1000. Is this true?

The whole series of interactions with American Express regarding this account has been so negative and they have been so aggressive that I find it hard to believe these practices are allowable by law. I suppose most people are like me -- after trying to solve the problem in a fair and civilized way and getting nowhere with Amex, we quit trying and just put up with their nonsense year after year.

If there were a class action lawsuit against them (and perhaps there is), I would willingly join and add my evidence in support of the cause.

[llecs]

It is very likely your SOL has expired. You should check just to be sure. Some SOLs extend beyond 10 yrs. If you search "SOL Link" in the search box above you'll quickly discover a bankrate.com link for SOLs by state. Your CC would be an "open" account.

Do you have anything from the lawyer insisting that $x per month be used towards the debt? Obviously Amex acknowledges some sort of payment because the balance is lower. Again, I'd write them and ask for details.

The $1000 that you are referring to is likely sourced in the FDCPA which prevents CAs from calling over and over if you request that they stop via a letter. The FDCPA doesn't carry over to Amex and other OCs, but if there is any law out there limiting OC contact, I'm sure the request has to be in writing. Check also the Truth in Lending Act.

[Anonymous]

I do have the correspondence from the lawyer.

By contacting Amex to get information about the account, would I be resetting the SOL? Is there any language in the letter I need to use to avoid that, such as, "This in no way acknowledges that I owe the amount claimed by American Express"?

Thanks again for the help. 

[Anonymous]

Just a little info for you, we also had an American Express, messed up, missed the payments and they also sent a collections agency after us.  We made the agrred upon payments and when it was paid off they also offered and gave us an Optima Card.  We were thrilled since at the time our credit was in shambles.  We felt lucky to receive the card.