Amex, who need em!

I'm surprised at Amex's response. I don't doubt what you've said, but their response to you seems contrary to everything I've personally experienced or heard about. I've found Dogman's experience to be fairly common. Offer payment and a compelling reason for past delinquency and if, IF, you have cleaned up your credit they seem to be willing to work with people. The main thing seems to be that you are not repeating past mistakes. I have at least two clients who have cleaned up their credit, paid Amex back and had Amex open up a Green card account for them.

Also, don't underestimate the prestige power of Amex. While most people couldn't care less what plastic you use to pay for that restaurant meal. Having Amex (Centurion Bank) does lend a bit of cachet to your credit report. As Amex is one of the most stringent lenders, the fact that you have an account indicates that you have reached a higher level of credit worthiness. I've actually gotten a couple of lenders to reverse denials for clients simply by drawing their attention to the fact that they have Amex account in good standing. For some reason, Amex is a magic word.