In my early 20's I did some very stupid things with credit cards, which resulted in some pretty impressive balances and resulting charge offs with several banks. Two of those were Citibank and American Express. Since that time, I have cleaned my act up as it relates to credit cards, but have not had the resources to pay off the old debts. The cards in question were charged off probably six or seven years ago, and are now gone from my credit report. With time and hard work, my credit score is now in the low 700's and I'm getting decent card offers again. I recently signed up for a Citi card that earns American Airlines miles, was accepted, and got the card in the mail this weekend. After receiving the card, I notice that it is an Amex card issued by Citi. My question is as follows. Is there any possibility that by entering into a new cardholder agreement with Amex/Citi, they can somehow revive my old, charged-off debt? I notice that the arbitration agreement on the new card is very open ended, and applies to "claims arising in the past, present or future" and survives "transfer or sale of your account". Am I being paranoid here, or can this open me up to a return to my bad old days of credit hell with Citi/Amex? Thanks in advance.
