AMEX bounces me around

[rockyroad]

(Not judging you, just very curious) What ON EARTH are you doing owing more than TWICE what I paid for my house on a CREDIT CARD?!?!?!

I thought $1,000 to $5,000 on a credit card was high... but $250,000?!?!?! How were you able to get away with that? (Judging AMEX): AMEX has to be insane to float that kind of money, even for business.

It was a biz line of Credit from AMEX. It was normal for me to charge $185k per month and pay it monthly. They would get uncomfortable and call and ask me to make a payment if it ever got to about $190k.
The funny thing is they asked every year for Biz financials and never once did I send them. They allowed this line of credit without ever seeing financials.
And the other $48k is from my AMEX personal card that I started using for Biz after 2 full months of non-payment on my biz acct.

They finally cut my credit line when it reached $48k. Kept saying to pay it in full and they would re-instate my line of credit. Yeah right...after being 120 days late on my Biz card!!!
I made a $500 payment on the due date and promptly received the notice that my account was now closed. Good thing I didn't pay the $48k in full!!!

Now I'm receiving calls on both accounts from different CA's. I'm not speaking to them, and needless to say I'm preparing to file BK.
Being that my biz debts outweigh my consumer debts, I think I can file chapter 7 as a business debtor and forego the means test.

And oddly enough, AMEX has not called on either account. They just assigned it to those annoying people with bad grammar!! LOL!

[debtmonster]

It was a biz line of Credit from AMEX. It was normal for me to charge $185k per month and pay it monthly. They would get uncomfortable and call and ask me to make a payment if it ever got to about $190k.
The funny thing is they asked every year for Biz financials and never once did I send them. They allowed this line of credit without ever seeing financials.
And the other $48k is from my AMEX personal card that I started using for Biz after 2 full months of non-payment on my biz acct.
They just now closed this account and I'm receiving calls on both.
AMEX never once called themselves though!
They finally cut my credit line when it reached $48k. Kept saying to pay it in full and they would re-instate my line of credit. Yeah right...after being 120 days late on my Biz card!!!
I made a $500 payment on the due date and promptly received the notice that my account was now closed. Good thing I didn't pay the $48k in full!!!

Ooooooooooooof! That is a RAG!

Well, that's bad business practices on their part. If they did their jobs, they would be sniffing up your cornhole wondering what you're doing with the money. They reap what they sow.

Credit card companies need to be more in touch with their customers instead of treating us like numbers.

Capitalism is going away. Can we live okay with Socialism? Would people be okay with that?

Good luck with that. You gonna Chapter 7 them out of your hair?

[treehugger1]

My citi accounts are very close to charging off. IN these final 30 - 40 days they have assigned one of them to a CA. The CA calls and leaves messages on my machine that they need to speak with me about a serious matter; that "you or your attorney" should return the call (suggesting that I "might" need an attorney suggests the call is related to a legal matter.) In addition, they tell me that when I call I need to refer to my "case" number. I called legal counsel the other day and they said record every message (now up to about 5) and I might find an attorney willing to take them on. In addition, since I work for a state agency and my voicemails can be considered a public record, I am preparing recorded wav copies on CD's, all date/time stamped and forwarding copies with written transcriptions to my state AG's office and the FTC.

I did call them back, but the only information I gave them was my mailing address and informed them I would look forward to written notification of the FDCPA. I received the letter, but will use my 30 days to review "how i will proceed." They still call, which is their right, but now the the caller seems to be more in a panic. LOL I recorded my phone call to them and they were made aware of this.

Oh yes, on one call I answered they told me they would begin an asset search. I told them if they found anything to let me know. The woman stated, "Then you admit "this debt" is yours?" I said, "No, but you said you will be looking for assets for me."

Good lord, these folks operate by the numbers and read from a script.

I had a couple of other big CC's charge off and get moved to attorneys. I DV'd them and I now have no idea where these accounts are. They have not been sold. The letters I received from these "firms" clearly stated, "At this time no attorney has reviewed your account." WTF? Could it be that my new credit score of sub 500 and reports showing several judgments, collection accounts (valid) and inquiries by other national CA's (not legal) suggest a person who does not willingly hand over cash? (Not to mention $150 K in unsecured with no evidence of any assets.) LOL Even a call to my courthouse would unveil mediation agreements not listed on my credit reports. While I have not gone the route of begging them to sue me, I have encouraged some of them to inquire into my credit reports and they can see for themselves how crappy things are. The inquiries hurt my credit I know, but its not as if a credit score means much to me at this moment of time.


I think AMEX, Citi, Cap1, and a few others wait until the last minute (could be 1 - SOL years) before they eventually sell off your account. In the meantime, the acounts gets bounced around from one CA or legal firm to another. I discovered last week that callers changed their tone when told I was under wage garnishment.

Who knows why OC's and CA's do what they do?

[debtmonster]

I love all of the stories on here. Keep stickin' it to those CA's!!! Teach 'em who's boss!

[rockyroad]

Nationwide is not calling near as much as they were when they started on Nov 2. I set up my home phone to block their calls. It rings once and then they get a busy signal. Only called my cell once today instead of every hour. I've NEVER spoken to them at all. BigBoy...do you think they are sending it back to Amex? Now will it get passed on to the Law firm they use or perhaps just on to a new CA???

[debtmonster]

I set up my home phone to block their calls. It rings once and then they get a busy signal.

I'm loving that! VERY COOL!!

Rag on those CA's!!! I HATE 'EM!! I'm lucky I didn't have a stroke from all the calls I used to get in the past. These people have all made my blood pressure go to the moon from the stress they have caused me.

[rockyroad]

LOL! Yeah, went out and bought a new phone system that has call block and do not disturb. I just programed their number in and somehow it recognizes it no matter which extension they are using and even if they try and block the call as unavailable. They used to immediately dial again but now they don't even do that. Couldn't find a way to block them on blackberry, other than just to set up their custom ring as "silent." I see them on my call list but never hear it ring. Their VM are so annoying though! They are reading from the dang script and wasting my minutes!!! LOL!
This has only been going on since Nov. 2 so it's not got me too heated yet!!!

[debtmonster]

That's why I use Grand Central. I send all calls to voice mail based on their Caller ID. Doesn't even ring my phone or waste any of my resources or time. I wish Grand Central didn't close the doors to new accounts. I use it daily. I log in and check the call log all the time and I can see all of their pointless attempts. I have the option of ringing it straight through or I can add the butler system where it prompts them for their name. It calls me and announces who they are and I press "1" to accept or "2" to send to voice mail. I never give out my land line or cell phone # to anyone. The positive side to this also is that I NEVER need to change my phone # again. I get to keep this phone # for life. When I change my land line or cell phone #, the Grand Central number will follow me until I die.

Maybe they are doing a study to see how often it is used and to find out how well the current users use it to see if it would be worth charging for the service.

[Argh!]

Well an Update: As of today, I got a call from the Law Offices of Mitchell N. Kay about my Amex Business Card. A simple look up of them on Bud Hibbs site let me know who I was dealing with. Another low life slime ball. But they are registered to collect in my state and have an office local to me and are part of the bar. So I do now expect to get sued by them on my business card here shortly. They are rude and very slimly. I don't like threats when I told them I had no money I was told well them we will refer this to our legal department. I asked, I thought you were the legal department, you said you are a law firm. She said, we have a legal department that will look at your file. And I said, OK, then what? Well we will make you pay...(oh really?) I said, what will the legal department do? She says, they will take legal action. I asked like what? She said, we will take legal action, I again said, like what? She said they will make you pay... around and around we went until she put someone else on the line. He told me, if I didn't make payment arrangements they would take legal action...LOL....Ok here we go again....like what? He said, we will refer it to our legal department for legal action....oh my god, this again?

So I ended the call with, don't ever call me again and sue me.

For six weeks I was a bill collector. (Worst job ever) I had a call like this once to a debtor but in reverse

Me: Is Boba Fet there?
Some Guy: Can I help you?
Me: Are you Boba Fet?
Some Guy: Can I help you?
Me: Are you Boba Fet?
Some Guy: Can I help you
Me: I'll call back later
Some Guy: No, don't call.
Me: Only Boba Fet can tell me that, are you Boba Fet?
Some Guy: Can I help you?

He was obviously try to trap be in a FDCPA violation by not making sure who I was talking to was the debtor.

This went on for 3 days, till day 4 when Boba Fet's dad answered the phone, and confirmed for me that Boba Fet does indeed live there.

5th day

Me: Is Boba fet there?
Some guy: I told you not to call back!
Me: Only Boba Fet can do that, and I know Boba Fet lives there becasue a household member told me so. Are you Boba Fet?
Some guy (as he is hanging up the phone is calling his dad an idiot)


Calls like this were amusing, but the job sucked.

[debtmonster]

I laughed hard at that last post about Boba Fet.

What happens to all of the people that you could not get hold of? People like me, who moved around every 3 to 12 months from place to place or state to state?

I'd really like to know what they do, from a collection agency's perspective.

What gets me is that I've lived in my house for 3 years and the last place I was at was there for almost 3 years. And nobody ever came for me. Why?

[Argh!]

I laughed hard at that last post about Boba Fet.

What happens to all of the people that you could not get hold of? People like me, who moved around every 3 to 12 months from place to place or state to state?

I'd really like to know what they do, from a collection agency's perspective.

What gets me is that I've lived in my house for 3 years and the last place I was at was there for almost 3 years. And nobody ever came for me. Why?

We weren't buyers, but we did collect on behalf of clients. After 90-180 days we would give the account back to the original creditor. Most of our clients were medical, utilities, and small, local merchants.

Collectors have very powerful tools to find people. Mainly credit reports, and other public info.

The higher the amount, the more aggressive we were. Also we searched for assets to make to see if it was worth our time to sue on behalf of our clients. (We only sued in certain states, though we did we have our in house lawyer)

One person owed $100k in bills, owned 3 homes and had a six-figure income. We went after him like a rabid dog.

One guy owes $1000, makes $8 /hr and owns nothing? We'd call every 3 days on average and bug him.

[debtmonster]

At what point does the collection agency pay for the account? Do you know if they paid X amount of cents on the dollar for the name up from to the original creditor, or do they only pay X amount of cents on the dollar once the debtor paid you guys?

How do you find out if the people have assets? Where can one find this out? Is it easy for anyone to do?

Like suppose I owed Discover Card $800 from 4 years past. Would a CA pay like $15 for the name up front, attempt to collect the debt, fail and then go back to the original creditor and say, "Hey, give us the $15 back. We couldn't collect on him neither."??

[Argh!]

We took it off the back end. Depending on the client and volum they gave us it ranges from 10-35%.

So say your bill of $800 was collected in full for no settlement. We'd keep $80-280 and mail a check for the rest.

We kept all interest that was collected on the account.

Asset searching is easy, just go to the county recorders website and type in the persons name. You can also check the Sec of State website to see if they own a company

[debtmonster]

Isn't there some kind of thing where you can be a controller of a Trustee without it being found in a search and then have all of your property in a Trustee's name? That's what Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man) did. His house went into some kind of other name.

[CarpeDiem]

ah nationwide.....still 8 calls a day between 8-8.......brings back memories