Has anyone been successful settling with American Express?

I couldn't even get them to accept my dmp, so I had to pretty much quit paying them...I've heard they are one of the worst to work with.

Did you offer a settlement?

I hear it's best to let AMEX accounts go to collections before trying to mess with them. This can take up to a year, sometimes more.

Oh, unless this is an account that has to be paid in full every month. That's not good.

i owe amex 67k...not proud of it at all. Business went bankrupt. Anyhow, Amex first sent it to Zwicker....Zwicker sent it to Apothaker who can sue me in Pa......however...I've been working with a nice woman at Apothaker and trying to avoid litigation....we'll see......by the way they offered 55% ...hope this helps

Thanks guest23 - that does help. How many months late were you at each stage?

91st day went to Zwicker....120 days to Apothaker with 0% offer to settle full balance or 55% settlement..lump sum...i'm at 150 days without a payment....close to chargeoff. I'm hoping for a 35% settlement offer....I may be able to swing it with help from the taxman, 401k and family.

Did you just not answer the phone for Zwicker? They only tried 30 days then sent it to someone else who eventually offered you 55% settlement? I hope that's what happens to me!! Thanks for the info.

My last 2 accounts and smallest are doing me in. AMEX sent my account to NCO in October. It was no where near 180 days. I just sent them NCO 800 on 2400. I have no idea if it will work I did get a letter stating they will report it to AMEX as settled. I will keep you posted. I sent it Western Union Quick Cash.

Did you ever write a letter to Amex asking for a settlement along the way or did they just send you the offer out of the blue?

just to clarify a point i already made....Zwicker offered me the 55% at 100 days I said I couldn't come up with it....now Apothaker just offered me the same amount and wouldn't budge....I told them that if Amex tries to sue me than I will just go bankrupt and what I offered is a much better deal than to get 100-200 a month for 60 months which is likely to happen in a Ch 13. They (being Amex) I believe are really pressuring me to come up with additional money that I truthfully don't have yet. We'll see.

never send money without an agreement in writing period.....against all standards in this industry...I hope it works out for you.

Hello...
I have 2 AmEx accounts, both at this point are only at 90 days past due and still with AmEx. I won't have the money for AmEx for almost a year...unless I move things around. I hope they will wait that long without suing me!!!

i owe them 5900 and i lost my income and they write me a letter and they approve me for settlement at 2400.IT work as long as you pay at the time of due date ussualy is 30 days...

ARSI offered 75% on 70K (across two cards). 30K is 15 days from write-off but I'm not sure how that would matter since Amex probably won't sell the debt....I don't have it so I can't settle now....

I just settled an Amex Blue account with a balance of $7,446.86 for $2,700 (36.26%) on January 16th. My last payment on the account was in July of 2008. This is my first settlement from the debt settlement program that I started in Sept. 2008.

Who did you settle through - Amex directly or a CA?

Directly with Amex. It hadn't gone to 3rd party collections yet.

Do they sue everyone or only if they see you have another card to put the balance on or if you have assets, etc.?

A friend had a $35000 outstanding with Amex. He did not pay for over six months, after which thru one of the collection agencies he came to a settlement and they waived off all the interest. Try negotiating the interest and there is a good chance they will!

If I get Amex to remove all interest and other fees do I still need something in writing to protect me from them trying to collect full balance? They kicked me out of a hardship program in Sep 08 and I haven't heard anything. Does the late payment clock start from Sep 08?

Foolish, which CA did you settle with for your 36%?

Guest,

My settlement company did the settlement. The payment was made directly to AMEX. However, I did notice an inquiry from Nationwide on my credit report on the exact date of the settlement. Therefore, it is possible that the settlement company settled with Nationwide on the same day that they received the account.

Amex would not settle with me. it went to Zwicker and eventually it went to Apothaker who would not settle for lower balance but waived all interest. They wont budge on that. perhaps i should have spoke with Zwicker. Damnit!!

Did anyone deal directly with NCO on this? I have not talked to them. They have left garbled messages and the lady also violated FCRP in one call by asking for both me or my husband. Only my name is on the account and CC and my husband has a different last name.

I am thinking of sending them a settlement proposal in writing. Has anyone done this?

I have 2 amexp blue cards that were sent to collections after 45 days. It has now been about 180 days sinc elast payment. They 1st send this to United Recovery and now NCO- they send me letters on their letterhead saying to contact NCO so I think they still own the debt (?).

My accts are about $6500 and $4500 with interest and penalty. I'd like to offer a settlement plan for both and am hoping for 35%.

who do you sent you letter to and what should it say if it is still with oc

My business acct was just kicked out of the Care Program on 2/5 and already given to ARSI on 2/20. Does anyone have history with ARSI on settlement %? I saw the one post for 75%, but would need it to be less, afterall I'm already going to take the credit hit. I owe just under $15k.

Did you have to pay it all up front or did they work with you regarding making the payments over time?? Was it a law firm or was it directly with Amex? Did they subtract away all the interest, penalties, fees, etc? I am in the same boat with them!

did amex called you to settle or you just called them? how did you convince them to take off that much? pls help i owe them $4500 and i just changed jobs the old company closed down.

here is my story, I had 6 amex cards 4 of which went to NCO after being pass due as little as 30-60 days another 2 cc went to aegis same time frame 60 days pass due. Have had few conversations with both and now 120 days pass due settled all for 25% (NCO) and 20% (aegis) I just paid base on writen agreement, was assured that 5 weeks after receiving cashier checks I was sending I will get confirmation from amex that accounts were settled in full. Total debts on all 6 CC was slightly over $80k I hope they will keep their promises and it is real settled if they anyhow plaing games and will try to collect more I'm screwed as I have no money left

Hi, I was looking for the same type of help and found some great info at lostmartian.com

I had 6 amex cards total slightly ove $80K they went to collection quickly I stop paying in Dec 2008 and begining of Feb 2009 I start getting calls from CAs I settled 4 of them for 25% and other 2 for 20%
I did follow up call today to see when I will get confirmation letter they say all is settled in full and it will take about 30-45 days then I should expect letter from AmEx and within 60-90 days amex should update my credit report, we'll see...

I just settled (4/27/09) with Amex Gold for $500 on a balance of $1631.40 (30.6%). I think they wanted to settle before the end of month. I demanded a settlement letter which they faxed to me. I also demanded that I would send a check and that I would never give my checking account info over the phone. It had been 6 months since last payment on account. I'm still working on another AmEx account (simply cash) to settle. Balance on that one is $5900. Fingers are crossed!

you said bussiness debt correct? what type of bussiness? sp, llc, inc ect makes a difference in how you can proceed...if sp they are going to come after you...

That's great JSP. I think I'm at the 6 month mark with them (don't know when clock started since I was in hardship program for 4 mos). I've been through 3 collection agencies now and no settlements. I got to an agreement with the last one and they faxed the letter and I sent my first payment but then a week later they sent me a letter saying they couldn't accept the settlement and sent my payment back to me! I was really hoping to settle before charge off but I don't think that is going to happen. Maybe they are going to sue me??

So what if they sue you....? What judge in this economy is going to grant an credit card company judgement? has anyone been taken to court? any thoughts / recommendations on how it went for you?

I would be interested on what happens if you go to court as well? I have a lot of business debt that is probably getting to that point. I have worked out some great repayment programs on some of them, but others have been really tough. I just sold my house and we are closing this week and moving in with Grandma. Maybe this will make them realize they have nothing to come after. I am only breaking even on the house deal anyway. Any thoughts?

JSP. Had your a/c been sent to a collection agency when you settled?

JSP, did you settle your other AMEX account yet and for how much?

Do you think American Express would be more likely to settle with me if they see I sold my house and I basically broke even. Really I lost about $2,000, but close enough.

Also, does anybody have an address or fax number as to where you can send a settlement letter? Is that even the best approach?

Honestly your best approach is to try and negotiate a settlement over the phone.

Is it really that bad to give them your bank account number, especially if you just set up that account to pay off debt and only fund it with enough to make payments when they are made?

any sugestions, I have 9 cards, I owned 62,000

I'm trying to settle a Delta American Express card and have been offered a 70% settlement(I pay 70% of balance).. I'm struggling with understanding how this will be reported to the credit bureaus and what effect that will have on me. AM EX is telling me there is only one way for them to report and that will yield me a R9 on my credit report... Can I negotiate that as well...? Do they have options??

I'm trying to settle a Delta American Express card and have been offered a 70% settlement(I pay 70% of balance).. I'm struggling with understanding how this will be reported to the credit bureaus and what effect that will have on me. AM EX is telling me there is only one way for them to report and that will yield me a R9 on my credit report... Can I negotiate that as well...? Do they have options??

So I got an unsolicited settlement offer from a company called Mitchell N. Kay, P.C. Law Offices. They are willing to settle my debt of about $6,600 for $1,700. It seems way to good to be true. This is what the letter says:

Dear:
Please be advised this office in concurrence with the creditor, American Express, agrees to accept the amount of $1700.00 in settlement of the above referenced account. This settlement is conditional upon payment being received on or before August 28, 2009. 11 am

As agreed. Kindly make your personal check via telephone service payable to the creditor.

Upon clearance of said payment, as stated above, a letter will be provided to you stating said account has been ???settled???. Furthermore this office agrees to advise our creditor to update your credit report accordingly.

If there should be any questions with respect to this matter, please feel free to contact Mr. ____ at the toll free number, 888-xxx-xxxx.

Very Truly Yours:

Debt Collector


It seems pretty legite, but I wanted to get the communities advice on it before I send them payment. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am in the process of hoping to settle with them but I am working with a law firm with debt settlement and so far things look good.

honestly it is so bad to give them your account number to settle a debt i will quickly tell you in my personal experience this is why i ended up going through a settlement company. i settled 1 debt on my own, told them id have the money in the account on tuesday (this was a thursday) they needed the account number now to make it official. so i gave it too them. BIG MISTAKE! some how things got messed up they withdrew it thursday overdrafted my checking which believe it or not was not the worst thing that happened.

then on tuesday they double dipped me. at that time they wiped me out of everything i had and bounced all my bills that came in leaving me pennyless for 6 weeks till they paid me back. thank god i had my family to help me with diapers and formula for almost 2 months nothing was getting paid, companies were threatning to start shutting off my utilities, and i ate ramien noodles almost everyday if i was lucky enough to have them. sometimes i really got rewarded and got invited to come over and eat at a friend of familys house.

So yes, i would not ever advise anyone to ever give them that info

oh and to add, they refused to pay my overdrafts and bounced checks so if you were setting up a bogus account just for that purpouse you would still have to pay the overdraft fees if they dont play by the rules.

How did it go for you? We are being sued by AMEX they stuck Zwicker on the case after 90 days of non payment. Did you get your settlement letter? We are negotiating now. Got them to 55% so far. Any tips for going lower? We are also fighting this lawsuit Pro Se.