AMEX charged off to ARSI, not NCO

American Express and Chase are both a little sloppy with assigning their accounts.

It doesn't happen often, but sometimes we notice that one account will be with two agencies at the same time. We once settled a Chase account with Nationwide Credit, when Chase actually thought the account was with Hanna & Associates. After a few weeks, we finally got Chase to honor the settlement, but it took some work. So that you can avoid this, I would definitely not do anything until after you're certain only one collection agency has this account in their office.

Good luck!

If Amex has confirmed that ARSI is having your account, then it is better to deal with them. Don't make any payments to NCO then. It may be the case that the account was assigned to NCO earlier.

Hi Rozo,

Did you check your credit report? Are both the CAs listed there on your credit report? Other than this, I agree with what Nelly has said. It is better to deal with the CA which was mentioned by AMEX.

Hope this helps,

Marvel Becks

having seen friends deal with this same scenario.i agree with marie here get iron clad proof of which of the two they should be paying.btw i also wouldn't go by a phone call either.last thing yes as marie stated(and is being very kind)that yes chase and amex are sloppy with how they work deliquent accounts.

Besides verbally being told ARSI has my account, how else would I get proof? There are no appropriate letters in the DIY section to send. I just don't want to start making payments to ARSI and then have NCO knocking on my door.

Did you check your credit report? Are both of these collection agencies listed there?

MOD NOTE...NOT ALL COLLECTIONS AGENCIES REPORT SO REALLY THIS PROVES NOTHING.

When is the last time you heard from NCO? When you called Amex did you talk with a life individual, or did you receive a recorded message stating that ARSI has your account?

If you haven't heard from NCO in awhile, call them and they will tell you whether or not they have it. If they tell you they do, you're still going to want to question this due to the fact that Amex says ARSI has it. If, however, NCO states that the account was recalled by Amex, you can safely assume it is no longer with NCO. BUT, before working with ARSI, call American Express again to see if they still tell you it's with ARSI. If Amex confirms this, give ARSI a call and see what you can do.

Best of luck to you!

ARSI does have my account and I called them today to attempt to settle on my $1699 balance. The lowest they would go was $1020. Should I hold out for them to go lower, or should I just take the first settlement offer that comes my way?

While I understand that the balance is relatively low, and continued negotiations will not result in much additional savings, I would still hold out, and not settle at what it is they are requesting at this time. Give it a few weeks, and try again. Good luck!

Thanks for being civil with me and not feel that you have to "tell it like it is". I guess I just give back whatever I receive. I did NOT give in to them by the way.