Advice on Amex Settlement with Nationwide

We are in the process of agreeing on a settlement with Nationwide on an Amex account. Amex owns the account, Nationwide is collecting for them. We have been offered a settlement at 40% and I've received the settlement letter in writing. In my research, it is identical to several others posted on the net, but being this is our first time dealing with something like this, I would appreciate opinions and recommendations anyone can provide.

It states:

We are writing to confirm the settlement offer that we made to you on behalf of AMERICAN EXP TRAVEL RELATED SE. We and AMERICAN EXP TRAVEL RELATED SE settle your account according to the following payment arrangements:

Lists 2 payments

Make each check payable to AMERICAN EXP TRAVEL RELATED SE and send it to us in time for it to arrive by each due date above. If payments are not received as above, or a payment is not honored by your bank, this offer will no longer apply and we will request the full balance immediately.

Fulfilling this settlement offer will satisfy your obligation for this debt at a substantial cost savings compared to your account balance. I assume this means that once we have completed the payments for the full settlement amount then we are done. There is no way for Nationwide, Amex or any other CA or JDB to come after us for the remaining balance?

The total account balance as of the date of this letter is shown above. Your account balance may increase because of interest or other charges, if so provided in your agreement with your creditor. We are not currently being charged interest with Amex, so I'm not sure what would increase our balance. I believe this is just standard terminology, but does this mean that additional fees could be tacked on at a later time that we would be responsible for?

They have offered us the ability to make 2 payments to settle, though I am contemplating paying it one to be done all at once. I've read making a note on the check that reads something like "the acceptance & cashing of this check constitutes account settled in full." Is this necessary or should there be something else written?

I did ask about how the account would be listed on CR and was told Settled in Full. I questioned pay for delete and they said that would not and could not do that. Do I need to have the Settled in Full statement listed somewhere on the settlement agreement or will the agreement plus copy of check be all I will need to dispute CR if it says anything other than Settled in Full?

What may we be overlooking? Any other recommendations?

A lot of CA's will not cash a check with restrictive endorsments so dont bother with this. In some states, the endoresment is not even valid.

They wont change the wording of the settlement offer/agreement. When I was collecting, the wording was set and approved by the client. No changes where permitted.

Thanks Soaplady for the advice. I understand the language is pretty standard - based on my research. But this all seemed too easy - do you see any gotcha's or with this letter and the single payment in the full amount we should be OK with the documentation?

I just settled with these guys at end of november -- made 2 payments to them already -- and if you have online status with amex you can check your account online and it will show the payments hitting the account -- I received the same letter -- they use a computer generated form letter which is approved through amex -- if you look at settement letters online -- you will also see they post the same letter for nationwide -- I checked that --

good luck to you

OK - thank you! One last question. They indicated that we could pay with certified funds, payable to Amex, and overnighted to Nationwide, but have repeatedly asked for wire transfer directly to them. I feel better sending the certified check. Is it a NO NO to do the wire transfer or does it really make a difference?

sorry for the delay -- I actually gave them my bank info --and they send me a notice each time they do a withdrawal ahead of time -- I haven't had them take anything out that was over what was stated on the form --

as far as collections agencies goes, they seem to be a-ok --

so whatever you feel comfortable with --

Thank you! Your advice and support has meant alot. I know we won't give access to account info, but good to know that this CA seems to be better than most. I guess I've been most skeptical because it has all been smooth. We were only 90 days late and this is the only card we have an issue with. We did try to work with OC last year and they wouldn't, so it came to this. We'll be making one payment to complete the entire settlement later this week, so I'll be sure to post updates as received.

OK - so we paid the settlement off in one payment via Amex website, and Nationwide confirmed receipt. I received a copy of the settlement complete letter and am wondering if I need to ask for something in more detail.

It lists the date, name, OC and acct # and says:

The above AMEX acct was settled with our agency for the amount of $XXXXX on date.

Does it matter that it just says settled and not "settled in full?"

Thanks again for ALL of y'alls help!