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kristin · Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 2:20 pm Subject: hardship plans

Has anyone ever been offered a hardship plan from their credit card company? If so, how long did it take for an offer to be made? IE: how many months of non-payment? I am thinking specifically about American Express so if you've experienced offers from them, I would appreciate it if you'd share the info.

Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 3:07 pm Subject:

I'm assuming that you are the same Kristin who had another thread about American Express, where I posted my experiences with them. Just in case you're not the same one, I'm posting them again here.

I looked back through my notes with Amex to see exactly what they offered me. What I did was to send a letter when I knew that we weren't going to be able to keep caught up on our payments. I explained that we had experienced a loss of income and would be unable to make the payments. They ignored my letter, but when the collection calls started (at about 30 days past due), I told them that I had a hardship and had sent a letter. The collector put a request in for the hardship department to call me back. The hardship department called back the next day and asked about my situation, then offered me the hardship program. It was a six month program, with 9.99% interest rate, and $50 per month payments. My balance was only about $2000, so the payments would probably be higher if your balance is higher. I remember the gal apologizing that their programs were not as good as what Visa/Mastercard could offer and saying that they were working on trying to get better programs in place--so it's possible that they may have some better programs now.

If you aren't able to make the payments or do the hardship program, or come up with a settlement amount, you could just wait it out and see what they do. They never did threaten a lawsuit on either my husband's account ($10,000 balance) or mine, and we were about 120 days past due at the time we ended up filing BK. They did send my account to a CA at one point, but they pulled it back when I asked for the CAs address so that I could send a CD letter.

kristin · Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 3:18 pm Subject:

thanks alias1958. how do I find the address for amex? all I have is the billing address. I checked the creditors list on the link side. Do I just pick the one for amex that includes my account numbers?

Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 3:23 pm Subject:

On the back of my bill, on the right hand side, is a list of phone numbers and addresses. I just used the Customer Service address. You could try using that address and putting it to the attention of the Hardship Department. (At the time that I sent my original letter, I didn't even know that there WAS a separtate Hardship Department!)

Good luck! Smile

kristin · Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 3:55 pm Subject:

thanks so much!! I already sent one letter, certified return receipt. I used the billing address though and marked it attn: Account Management. I will send another one through the customer service dept. I did get my return receipt back but who knows where my letter is now.

Do you think if I call them and tell them I won't be paying on time, they won't call me after 2 weeks asking about the payment? Or, can I tell them to not call me at work? That happened once before when I accidentally missed a payment so it was 2 weeks late. (It really was an accident!)

I can't send a cease and desist letter until they start hounding me, right? I'll go find links to that next. Smile

Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 6:01 pm Subject:

Original creditors don't have to obey a cease and desist, unless you live in one of the few states that have laws to the effect. I live in California, which is one of those states, but I don't know about yours. I think though (but I'm not certain, so maybe someone else can verify) that you still have the right to tell the OC not to contact you at work. In my expereience, even if you tell them you can't pay and tell them why, they will still keep calling you pretty regularly.

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 12:19 pm Subject:

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 12:43 pm Subject:

After the six months, the card reverted to the previous terms. The remaining balance would still be there, the interest rate would return to the previous rate, and the minimum monthly payments would return to the previous amount. Hardship programs, for the most part, are just temporary solutions for temporary situations. If your situtation is not temporary or you can't do anything to change it within the six months to one year that most companies offer, then you have to look for a more long-term solution.

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 12:44 pm Subject:

The reason that creditors offer hardship programs is that they hope you will be able to turn things around, start paying your bills again, and therefore, they keep earning money off of you!

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