Hello all. I have a quick question that I hope you all can help me out with. I am a rebuilder of credit all the way from about 585 up to a 748 now, so all is well. My troubles started in college and I paid the price for it for nearly 10 years but everything is clear and free now on my credit report, no delenquinces or anything negative at all. Here is my problem though. I had an American Express during the "troubled years". It was reported to the credit agencies as bad, went unpaid and charged off and after 7 years it did drop off from my credit report. I never heard from them again, until recently (10 to 15 years later). I can see where they are pulling my credit report as a soft pull to get my contact information, I assume. I finally talked to the person who kept calling and they said they were from American Express. They asked when I was going to pay it and I said, "You already trashed my credit and now you still expect me to pay", she said, "Yeah", then I said, "Well, I have no idea what account this is, and I dont even think its mine, so good luck with that", to which she repsonded, "Well you will never be able to get an American Express again", to which I said, "Damn, if only there were some other credit card companies out there for me to choose from, whatever will I do.", click end of conversation. They continue to call with an automated message that says, "hello, this is American Express, please call this phone number and reference this account number." I havent called. I recently found out about the statue of limiations and I see that I am way past that wheter its considered written or oral. My question is, what do I tell this phone number when I call back? I want the calling to stop, thats basically my goal because I know they cant do a thing to me now, but I dont want to contact them and reset the entire process again. Any suggestions??
A couple of points here: 1) To stop the collection activity you must send a "Cease & Desist" letter to AmEx. 2) Clarification of SOL: Just because a debt is past SOL for collection, does not mean collection activity is prohibited. When a debt is past legal SOL this means that the debt cannot have a judgement placed against it IF you RAISE the defense of debt being past SOL. The key point of "past SOL" is that it is a legal defense you MUST raise if the debt is taken to court, but the debtor has the burden of raising the defense, no one will do it for them. So, for your case you must submit in writing a demand to stop communication with a "C&D" letter, and you should state the you will raise the legal defense of "debt past SOL" if suit is taken. This should stop them. And yes, you will be black listed by AmEx, their memory is infinite for these cases.
Crazy timing on this post. Just today, after all this time, I just received a letter in the mail from Am Ex stating that if I paid the balance off, they will give me a new card. The letter reads, "Regain Cardmembership with a variable Optima Card. If you pay off this balance, we will give you your membership back with a Prime rate, and a $35 annual fee." Then it says, This is a communication to collect a debt. You think they are just trying to get me to acknowledge that its my debt?? I am definently not going to call them, but thats just crazy after atleast 10 years they are now offering to give me a card back. The balance is under $1000, so its no big deal either way. Should I include this letter with a return letter that says to Cease and Desist from contacting me any further about this debt and that although I do not claim this debt as mine, it is past the statue of limitations?
Amex is one of those creditors with the memory of an elephant. While FCRA prohibits dissemination of non-BK derogatory information for only 7 years, a creditor can use derogatory information in its own files forever. That said, Amex has a LOOOOONG memory. If the debt is truly Out of Statute (there are TWO SOL's at work here - one for Credit Reporting and one for Collections) on the Collections Statute then there is little they can do to enforce collection of the account except to ask for the money. If you live in a state that has a Statute of Repose then even the act of asking for payment would be barred as the actual liability itself would be extinguished. Amex's policy concerning consumers who have had charge offs with them is pretty simple: They will not give you a new card with them until you pay off the old one. This policy applies to all bad debts, including those extinguished in Bankruptcy. You hit the nail right on the head - they are not the only credit card in town.
Does Illinois have a Statute of Repose? I just want them to stop calling me. I dont mind so much the mail because I can just throw it away and if they want to waste their money mailing stuff until I die, no problem.
While I do not disagree with either of the other two posters I would suggest that if Amex will give you a new card if you pay the full amount of the old account I think you should take that option. First of all that will save you the grief of a possible lawsuit later down the road and it will get you a new credit card that is very highly highly regarded. It is considered a prime card and so is a valuable credit rating. On top of that you would be taking the moral high road and paying what you owe. If you can't do that because you don't have the money then the other posters advice would be the only other avenue open to you. I would not normally agree with the advice of sending a C&D except in the circumstance you are in. It is out of SOL for bringing suit so telling them to go fly a kite would be acceptable so long as you are willing to take the risk of actually going to court and filing a motion to dismiss their case. Motion to dismiss is an acceptable response to a summons which is out of SOL so you would not want to file an answer. Only a motion to dismiss. If the debt were not out of SOL I would strongly advise against doing that. Paying them off and getting a new card is the best way to go if you have the funds to do it with.
