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AMEX and CFPD

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Tazman81
Established Contributor

Re: AMEX and CFPD


@DiabolicallyRandom wrote:
Caution Tazman, amex is the apple of credit cards, and there is no room for negotiation.. Them fanboys be fierce.

In this case I would say ethical behavior is a moot point. You can't condemn someone for "unethically" not paying their debt(despite whatever potentially good reasoning), while defending unethical collection practices. Besides, the people in this specific circumstance did pay their debt, they accepted a conditional offer from amex. Dirty business practices are dirty business practices.

Understood.  But this is what I am saying.  I did pay the debt that I owed to AMEX on the promises of re-establishment of a relationship with the company through a Zync card (when that craze was going on).  That never came to furition.  This was something that "The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) together with the Utah Department of Financial Institutions discovered the illegal activities during a routine examination of an American Express subsidiary, the American Express Centurion Bank."

So, this was not a suit brought by any one particular person.  It was illegal practices discovered in Utah and thus lead to this big thing.  At the time, I didn't realize them lying was "against" the law.  But per the statements from CFPB, their tatics were illegal.


Current Score: Eq: 823 Tu: 830
Goal Score: Eq: 850 Tu: 850

Wallet: PenFed Power Cash 50k | AMEX Blue Cash (AU) 49.5k | Cap One QSMC 26.5k | AMEX Platinum NPSL | USAA Signature Visa 25k
Message 11 of 19
DiabolicallyRandom
Established Contributor

Re: AMEX and CFPD

Lol Tazman, I am in complete agreement with you. The purpose of government is to protect its citizens, be it military or the courts. If amex simply wanted to collect they should have done so be legal means, because there are plenty of laws in place in their favor.
Message 12 of 19
Xplor81
New Member

Re: AMEX and CFPD

Tazman,

 

Honestly, I cant see why so many people are posting to your forum if they do not have a legitimate answer to your question.  Your question was "Has anyone involved in this action received their pre-approved credit/charge card offer from American Express?" 

 

It appears the only reason you gave the CFPB website was just to give people the background so they would understand what offer you were speaking about.  I think that's the problem with  many Forums, people just chime in with unwanted and unintelligible opinions that have nothing to do with the actual question at hand.  Many people make assumptions and they have no idea what the facts are.

 

I would honestly just suggest removing the post.  I dont think you are going to get any answer here to your real question (which I outlined above).  I would say just contact CFPB to see if they can give you a little more insight as to what specifically AMEX has to provide.


Starting Score: EQ: 551 TU: 529
Current Score: EQ: 634 TU:618
Goal Score: EQ: 770 TU:770

Wallet: Cap One Plat $500; USAA Secure MC $800 / Goal Cards: Chase Freedom, USAA Rewards AMEX
Message 13 of 19
navigatethis12
Valued Contributor

Re: AMEX and CFPD


@DiabolicallyRandom wrote:
Caution Tazman, amex is the apple of credit cards, and there is no room for negotiation.. Them fanboys be fierce.

In this case I would say ethical behavior is a moot point. You can't condemn someone for "unethically" not paying their debt(despite whatever potentially good reasoning), while defending unethical collection practices. Besides, the people in this specific circumstance did pay their debt, they accepted a conditional offer from amex. Dirty business practices are dirty business practices.

I hate American Express to no end, so I'm not just blindly defending them. I know that debts discharged in bankruptcy are not legally required to be paid, but it doesn't mean that a company doesn't still want the money back. What's unethical about what they did? If someone didn't pay you back thousands of dollars, wouldn't you try to get it back? Again, I don't see why you would not pay a lender and then have the audacity to apply again as if nothing ever happened. I don't know what wording American Express used, but unless they specifically said that paying the debt would gaurantee an approval, I don't see the issue. Even if they do have to approve past deliquent customers, there's no stopping them from giving them $500 limits and say it's because of previous negative history.

Message 14 of 19
DiabolicallyRandom
Established Contributor

Re: AMEX and CFPD

I believe that this situation was the purpose of the optima card, and they did issue like 500 dollar limits with a promise of a graduation once you met the criteria. The problem was that they collected under false pretenses, on a debt that could no longer collected on. It was a conditional offer that they never followed through with. I have read about other companies, like first premiere doing something similar, except they leave the negative trade line and issue an essentially secured credit line with whatever the balance of your charge off was.
Message 15 of 19
longtimelurker
Epic Contributor

Re: AMEX and CFPD


@navigatethis12 wrote:

@DiabolicallyRandom wrote:
Caution Tazman, amex is the apple of credit cards, and there is no room for negotiation.. Them fanboys be fierce.

In this case I would say ethical behavior is a moot point. You can't condemn someone for "unethically" not paying their debt(despite whatever potentially good reasoning), while defending unethical collection practices. Besides, the people in this specific circumstance did pay their debt, they accepted a conditional offer from amex. Dirty business practices are dirty business practices.

I hate American Express to no end, so I'm not just blindly defending them. I know that debts discharged in bankruptcy are not legally required to be paid, but it doesn't mean that a company doesn't still want the money back. What's unethical about what they did? If someone didn't pay you back thousands of dollars, wouldn't you try to get it back? Again, I don't see why you would not pay a lender and then have the audacity to apply again as if nothing ever happened. I don't know what wording American Express used, but unless they specifically said that paying the debt would gaurantee an approval, I don't see the issue. Even if they do have to approve past deliquent customers, there's no stopping them from giving them $500 limits and say it's because of previous negative history.


The OP provided the link!  Four classes of illegal practices were identified, but I think the major one referred to here is:

 

All three of the American Express subsidiaries deceived consumers into believing there were certain benefits to paying off old debt. Consumers were wrongly told that if they paid off the old debt, the payment would be reported to credit bureaus and could improve their credit scores. In fact, American Express was not reporting the payments and the debts were so old that even if they had tried to report them, many of the payments would not have appeared on these consumers’ credit reports or affected their credit scores. American Express also told some consumers that a portion of their debt would be waived or forgiven if they accepted certain settlement offers. But for customers who applied for a new American Express card, the company was not really forgiving or waiving the debt.

 


So for breaking the law, there were consequences, one of which is:

 

Consumers who were promised their debt would be forgiven and who were denied new credit cards because the debt was not really forgiven, will receive $100 and a pre-approved offer for a new card with terms the CFPB and the FDIC find acceptable. If the consumer already paid the waived or forgiven amount in order to get a new card, they will be refunded that amount plus interest.

 


So the legal side has all been decided and agreed to by Amex.   The OP is asking about this clause...

Message 16 of 19
Tazman81
Established Contributor

Re: AMEX and CFPD


@Xplor81 wrote:

Tazman,

 

Honestly, I cant see why so many people are posting to your forum if they do not have a legitimate answer to your question.  Your question was "Has anyone involved in this action received their pre-approved credit/charge card offer from American Express?" 

 

It appears the only reason you gave the CFPB website was just to give people the background so they would understand what offer you were speaking about.  I think that's the problem with  many Forums, people just chime in with unwanted and unintelligible opinions that have nothing to do with the actual question at hand.  Many people make assumptions and they have no idea what the facts are.

 

I would honestly just suggest removing the post.  I dont think you are going to get any answer here to your real question (which I outlined above).  I would say just contact CFPB to see if they can give you a little more insight as to what specifically AMEX has to provide.


Thanks Xplor.  I will be contacting CFPB just to see if they can provide any addtional insight on what they considered to be a suitable product from AMEX.  I posted here in an effort to see if our FICO buddies had some more information on this topic and/or if anyone had experiences they were able to share regarding this topic.  But who knows, maybe I may be the first to have to dive in.


Current Score: Eq: 823 Tu: 830
Goal Score: Eq: 850 Tu: 850

Wallet: PenFed Power Cash 50k | AMEX Blue Cash (AU) 49.5k | Cap One QSMC 26.5k | AMEX Platinum NPSL | USAA Signature Visa 25k
Message 17 of 19
Tazman81
Established Contributor

Re: AMEX and CFPD


@navigatethis12 wrote:

@DiabolicallyRandom wrote:
Caution Tazman, amex is the apple of credit cards, and there is no room for negotiation.. Them fanboys be fierce.

In this case I would say ethical behavior is a moot point. You can't condemn someone for "unethically" not paying their debt(despite whatever potentially good reasoning), while defending unethical collection practices. Besides, the people in this specific circumstance did pay their debt, they accepted a conditional offer from amex. Dirty business practices are dirty business practices.

I hate American Express to no end, so I'm not just blindly defending them. I know that debts discharged in bankruptcy are not legally required to be paid, but it doesn't mean that a company doesn't still want the money back. What's unethical about what they did? If someone didn't pay you back thousands of dollars, wouldn't you try to get it back? Again, I don't see why you would not pay a lender and then have the audacity to apply again as if nothing ever happened. I don't know what wording American Express used, but unless they specifically said that paying the debt would gaurantee an approval, I don't see the issue. Even if they do have to approve past deliquent customers, there's no stopping them from giving them $500 limits and say it's because of previous negative history.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't disagree with wanting my money back if someone didn't pay me back.  I disagree with the tatics used.  If someone owed me money, I cannot just go into their home and take the money from under their mattress just because I know it's there.  I also cannot go to their bank and say, this person owes me money, give me all the money out of their checking/savings account because I know it's there.  Regulations were put into place for a reason, and AMEX violated those regulations.
Anyhow, just so you are aware, I actually DID pay the lender back in FULL.  This is the complaint.  They were advising people that if they paid AMEX back, or if they paid a settlement amount to AMEX, then all would be forgiven.  Their credit would be cleaned up, and AMEX would provide another credit product.

 


Current Score: Eq: 823 Tu: 830
Goal Score: Eq: 850 Tu: 850

Wallet: PenFed Power Cash 50k | AMEX Blue Cash (AU) 49.5k | Cap One QSMC 26.5k | AMEX Platinum NPSL | USAA Signature Visa 25k
Message 18 of 19
Tazman81
Established Contributor

Re: AMEX and CFPD


@DiabolicallyRandom wrote:
I believe that this situation was the purpose of the optima card, and they did issue like 500 dollar limits with a promise of a graduation once you met the criteria. The problem was that they collected under false pretenses, on a debt that could no longer collected on. It was a conditional offer that they never followed through with. I have read about other companies, like first premiere doing something similar, except they leave the negative trade line and issue an essentially secured credit line with whatever the balance of your charge off was.

Exactly.  So some people received the optima card while others did not.  So, those that received the card will get a credit to their account for the monies paid.  Those that did not receive the card were receiving a refund check and a pre-approved application for a credit product with AMEX.  Not sure how many of the 250k there are, but just thought I would check out the forum to see if anyone had been a part of this and received the pre-approved application.


Current Score: Eq: 823 Tu: 830
Goal Score: Eq: 850 Tu: 850

Wallet: PenFed Power Cash 50k | AMEX Blue Cash (AU) 49.5k | Cap One QSMC 26.5k | AMEX Platinum NPSL | USAA Signature Visa 25k
Message 19 of 19
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