Have I been lied to? Debt Settlement w/ AMEX and Redline Recovery Services
Date: Thu, 01/20/2011 - 23:14
This is my first post on this forum and I 'm glad that I found it a couple months ago. It helped me a lot with regard to debt settlement but recently I ran into a problem and I don't know what to do.
First let me give you some background information:
I have $8,101.06 in debt with AMEX (unsecured) and about $11,000 in debt with Chase (also unsecured). It has been about a year since I payed anything to either of these companies. Since I had no money to give them, I just gave up. However, around November of 2010 I found out about this website and debt settlement.
Now for the story:
I read about how I could have a debt settlement agency do everything for me, but I didn't want to do it because of the costs of doing it. So, I decided to do it myself. I read somewhere on the internet that for the purpose of having proof and evidence it was better to do any type of communication with a credit card company or an collection agency through letters and/or e-mails .
First I wanted to get rid of my debt with AMEX. I first checked my AMEX account on-line and I noticed that I had a balance of $8,101.06. I then e-mailed AMEX to let them know that I wanted to do a debt settlement. They then replied to me and said that my debt had been handed to Redline Recovery Services. I next sent Redline a letter that stated that I was willing to pay $2,500 to settle the debt. They e-mail me and asked that I call them. Since I was in South Korea for work (I still in Korea by the way) I asked if I could do everything through e-mail. They agreed and they sent me a debt settlement agreement. The agreement is shown below.
When I received the agreement and found out that they agreed to settle for $2,500, I was excited. Soon after I received the agreement, I paid Redline $2,500. I never received anything that said that they received my money or any kind of response. Being the naive person that I was, I just assumed that everything was taken care of, However, just yesterday I thought maybe I should check my AMEX account again and see whether I still had a balance. Low and behold I still had a balance that was exactly $2,500 less than my previous balance of $8,101.06. I was shocked and in unbelief. What happened? I thought I paid it off. After I found out about the balance, I immediately e-mailed the person that contacted me from Redline and told him about my situation. However, I've yet to receive a reply. Did Redline lie to me? Now, I'm afraid to settle my Chase account because I just found out that my account was sold to Hilco and read some horrible stories about how people tried to do a debt settlement with them.
Please help me!!! I don't know what to do.
It might be the case that they have lied to you. Anyway, wait fo
It might be the case that they have lied to you. Anyway, wait for some days and see whether or not they send you any receipt. Ask them to update your account status on your credit report. You can use the settlement agreement as proof if they refuse to update the account status on your credit report. Send them a copy of the settlement agreement. As far as Hilco is concerned, I think it will be best to settle the debt if they can prove it. But, make sure you sign a written settlement agreement with them this time.
Thank you Isabella for your reply but I forgot to mention that i
Thank you Isabella for your reply but I forgot to mention that it has been almost 3 months since I made the $2,500 payment and It was just yesterday that I found out that I still had a balance in AMEX account. I sent Redline an e-mail yesterday to update my account status but so far I haven't received a reply yet. Maybe, I should be a bit more patient.
I'm not sure if this is still the case, but other posters have m
I'm not sure if this is still the case, but other posters have mentioned that AMEX never clears the account balance until its paid off. They also never report to the credit agencies that the account balance is zero even though there is payoff evidence. You will need to keep your letters and payment (i.e. checks, wires, debits) as documentation.
Correct whatayear!! Amex indeed carries the balance on your ac
Correct whatayear!! Amex indeed carries the balance on your account indefinitely. However, they settle and agree not to seek the balance from you following the settlement. If, however, you ever want to open another Amex account, the prior balance will be there for you to clear beforehand. dtm
@ dantheman: So does that mean that my is settled with AMEX a
@ dantheman:
So does that mean that my is settled with AMEX and all I have to do is not open another account with them?
Right, you are finished. After a couple of months they will ref
Right, you are finished. After a couple of months they will reflect it as settled but internally will still show a balance. This is the only creditor I settled with that did not take it to a zero balance. Good Luck. dtm
amex
so how many months were you behind before you asked for debt settlement and what number did u call to contact them? am trying to do same with am ex. thanks!
@ dantheman Thank you very much for your help. @ distressedga
@ dantheman
Thank you very much for your help.
@ distressedgal
I was at least one year behind before I asked for debt settlement. I didn't call AMEX at all. I did everything by e-mail and mail. First, I logged on to my AMEX credit card account and then I asked it they were interested in doing a debt settlement. AMEX then told me that they sold my account to Redline Recovery Services. I then mail mailed Redline a letter stating that I wanted to do debt settlement. Redline then sent me an debt settlement agreement by e-mail. I then finally sent them the money by phone. It was a really a simple process. I didn't have to persuade anybody anybody or argue with anybody.
You are quite welcome. I received a lot of help and advice. An
You are quite welcome. I received a lot of help and advice. And though my debt is now settled, I am sticking around for a little while to give back to others. Do the same and pass it on. Good Luck. dtm
Hey, I read a post on here along time ago from one of the good g
Hey, I read a post on here along time ago from one of the good guys that had settled a ton of debt...I saved one of his last posts and he indicated he'd contacted Amex a bunch of times and I think he threatened to either Arbitrate or sue them if they didn't remove this balance that we're discussing and after I think the third call they completely wiped it off all his Cr's as if it never existed...I'll look for it and get back to the forum later...
It might have been mac123, but I'll check when I get home...Afte
It might have been mac123, but I'll check when I get home...After settling, there is a step 2 which is fixing up the Credit reports, thats an entirely different forum...
It may have been mine. I was able to get Amex to delete the acc
It may have been mine. I was able to get Amex to delete the account totally from my cr. It was because they failed to show it settled and when I complained, they told me they would delete the account....and they did. But it was sort of a fluke where a mistake was made in reporting.
I just checked my credit report and dantheman was correct. My de
I just checked my credit report and dantheman was correct. My debt has been settled but AMEX still has my remaining balance on my account. Also, I just found out that that the CA reported my account as "Settled - less than full balance." (T_T)
My husband lost his job over 15 months ago. We have keep up our
My husband lost his job over 15 months ago. We have keep up our payments to Amex for the pass 15 months, but we are slowly running out of money. How many months do you need to be delinquent before i can make a settlement with Amex. Do they offer the settlement, or do you have to ask for it. I have been reading that Amex is really very tough to settle with. i have seen a lot of people getting sued, is this because they refused to make a settlement with them? Also, what percentage has everyone received when making a settlement.Thanks
Amex will never settle directly, but I think typical period is 9
Amex will never settle directly, but I think typical period is 90 days (that counts as 90 days after the due date of your last statement) of nonpayment before they send you to collection agency. Then its easier to settle with agency. Also, the number of days late varies from credit card company, so I used to just ask the customer rep when they called about the account.
@ Amexstressed I don't how many months you need to behind to be
@ Amexstressed
I don't how many months you need to behind to be delinquent with AMEX but in my situation I contacted AMEX about settlement about a year of being behind on my payments and surprisingly AMEX and the collection agency were very cooperative. In about a weeks time, I settled my debt with AMEX. If you want the full story, just read the first post on this thread.
Amex tried to sue e and the case was tossed. That was 3 years ag
Amex tried to sue e and the case was tossed. That was 3 years ago. They have since sold the debt to Redline (they just started the calls). Redline called family members!
Isn't that illegal? Where does one go to report that??
As AMEX's legal case was tossed out of court, do I still have to settle or can I use the fact that Redline called family to get them to close it?