American Express has long been seen as the “premium” credit card company in the United States. They’re not only known for their outstanding customer service, but also for their high transaction fees which prompt a number of retailers not to take them. While AmEx may be a popular option, especially for those who have a considerable amount of wealth, they’re also notoriously tough on delinquent accounts.
If you’ve been served notice of lawsuit from American Express, there are some things you need to know. Because of the way American Express operates, you have to handle their cases quite a bit different from other credit card companies.
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Don’t Bother Questioning Who Owns the Debt
Here’s a little-known secret: some credit card companies don’t actually own your debt by the time collection agencies start coming after you. Banks may sell your debt in order to recover some of the money and cut their losses on the remainder. The debt buyer that’s going after you is doing so purely for their own profit.
However, this isn’t how AmEx works. American Express usually pursues delinquent accounts themselves with their in-house legal team or works with a carefully selected group of trusted attorneys and third-party collectors who work to recover on their accounts. As a result, the strategy of trying to prove that the debt collector or creditor doesn’t actually own the debt usually backfires when used against American Express. Unless you can prove unauthorized use, fraud, miscalculation, or the wrong AmEx entity is pursuing you, it can be an up-hill battle to dispute the veracity of the ownership of the account.
Don’t Ignore the Problem
Ignoring these notices doesn’t make the problem go away. In fact, it does the opposite: it usually gives American Express the ability to pursue a default judgement against you. A default judgement is the name for a judgement that goes against you when you don’t respond to a summons for a lawsuit against you or show up on the required court date. In other words, it’s what will happen if you don’t take action to defend yourself. And these judgements are not merciful.
American Express may be able to cloud your home title, which makes it nearly impossible to sell your home, they can garnish your bank account which means seizing non-exempt funds in the account, and they can seize your non-exempted property to try and pay off your balance. They can also report this judgement to credit bureaus which puts a massive hit on your credit report.
How to Fight Back
Fighting back against an American Express lawsuit isn’t always easy, but it is possible. By putting a qualified New Jersey debt lawyer on your side, you may be able to settle your debt for less than you owe. American Express is open to negotiating in many cases, and in some instances you may be able to settle your debt for a small fraction of what you owe.
Settling your debt is vastly preferable to declaring bankruptcy for a number of reasons. For one, it doesn't result in a public record. It’s also far faster to recover from, as those who settle their debt can usually regain their financial standing in just a few short years. Settling your debt may save you money without risking losing non-exempted property or having actions like bank levies or wage garnishments filed against you. As a result, you could find that you’re out of debt far faster than you ever thought possible.
Get help from a qualified New Jersey debt relief attorney today! Call the Law Office of Simon Goldenberg, PLLC at (347) 389-0245 to request a free initial case evaluation and don’t let American Express take control of your life.