Well, I was told that I could never get a paid charge-off from Amex erased from my credit report, but I did! Kudos to Amex! They truly did surprise me, but they are going to remove it from all of my credit reports! Yippee! On another good note, I've had my Aria Visa for less than a year, and my limit has gone from $500 to over $4000! Now I just have to work on getting that interest rate down! Thought someone might want to know that neither one of these two creditors is all that bad.
I had an AMEX charge-off from September 1997 for $800. I know it doesn't sound like much, but I'm only a student and paying it off took me a long time. I didn't start paying until September 1999 and just finally sent in my last check to them in April 2001 (I was giving like $25-50 a month, didn't want to be broke paying off a measly debt)...I must AMEX was nice though, never charged me interest or fees, nothing! I wrote them in February saying I was nearing the end of my payment to them and that I refused to finish paying until they promised me the charge-off would be removed from my credit reports. Stupid me though, I kept paying even though I didn't hear from them. It was dumb, I know. Anyway, they sent me a letter saying that upon final payment they would be reporting my account as a paid charge-off! I went through the roof! But I wrote them a nice calm letter, thanked them for never charging me interest or fees, but that I had been responsible, fulfilled my obligation to pay (which I added, was more than most people do who just wait the 7-year max time), that when they gave me the card I was only 18, I didn't even have a job, now I'm responsible, I paid my debt to them, etc, etc, and would they please reconsider their decision and remove all trace of this charge-off. About 2 weeks ago, I got a reply from them and they agreed to remove it completely from all three credit bureaus. Let's say I've have that letter pinned to the bulletin board in my bedroom! YEAH!
That's very good news. Congratulations. Amex has got to be one of the most customer focused companies out there. They are very fair and more forgiving than any other. If more companies would remove delinquencies on credit reports after the debt is paid, they would probably have much of their defaulted loans settled. It really is a huge bargaining chip for them. All parties would win. It would be interesting to compare Amex's delinquencies to other companies.
