Getting a letter...

[leftyf]

The Amex collector guy just left a nasty-gram on my voicemail saying this is the last time he is calling and I will be receiving an important letter in the mail very soon. I never answer any of these calls or talk to any of these goofs. I haven't paid them in about 120 days or so...does anyone think this will be a move for a judgement or most likely a scare tactic? The good news (I think and hope) is I just retained an attorney about 2 hours before the call. I'm trying to put off filing until Jan or so.
Lefty

[HHM]

My vote...Scare Tactic.

You should save the message and find a way to record it, so WHEN the guy calls again, you can play it back for him, and tell him "I thought you said you weren't going to call anymore"

But, January is still kinda far away, and frankly, AMEX tends to move faster to sue than other creditors. But I think you will be fine.

[Boscoe]

Lefty - why are you waiting until January? Is it to lower your last 6 months income? Or did you make some decent sized purchases since June? Otherwise, if there is no reason to wait, then I would file sooner, as the fewer negative items you have on your credit report, the faster you will recover after the discharge.

[leftyf]

Boscoe, it is to lower my 6 month average income. The attorney I retained believes there is a real possibility for a ch. 7. No guarantees, of course, but I don't think she was blowing smoke up my you know what.

[leftyf]

I just got a 14 days to respond letter from Amex demanding that I contact them or they will be sending me to collection and/or an attorney who will file suit against me.
My questions are:
1) Once again, I suspect they are bluffing. Do you agree?
2) Should I contact them and let them know I am planning to file and have retained an attorney and give them the attorney's info?
3) If they do proceed with trying to get a judgement, is this something that my bk attorney will help with? Will the attorney want a bunch of extra fees?
Thanks,
Lefty

[dscurlock]

I just got a 14 days to respond letter from Amex demanding that I contact them or they will be sending me to collection and/or an attorney who will file suit against me.
My questions are:
1) Once again, I suspect they are bluffing. Do you agree?
2) Should I contact them and let them know I am planning to file and have retained an attorney and give them the attorney's info?
3) If they do proceed with trying to get a judgement, is this something that my bk attorney will help with? Will the attorney want a bunch of extra fees?
Thanks,
Lefty

have you really obtained a lawyer? just a warning, telling any company that you have obtained a lawyer when you have not
would be considered fraud in an attempt to evade a debt...
and could cause serious problems later...if you have obtained a lawyer and your attorney has accepted to take your BK, then
no doubt, send them your attorneys info and be done with it,
and tell them to stop calling and writing, but then again, you do not seem
to be filing right away, so contact your attorney and ask if its ok to give
them their information, or not...

your attorney is best qualified to answer any of your questions, isnt
this what you paid for?

how much is the amex debt for? judgement, i doubt it... you will more then likely
get months of harassing phone calls and letters in the mail until you actually file.

[CPO]

The Amex collector guy just left a nasty-gram on my voicemail saying this is the last time he is calling and I will be receiving an important letter in the mail very soon. I never answer any of these calls or talk to any of these goofs. I haven't paid them in about 120 days or so...does anyone think this will be a move for a judgement or most likely a scare tactic? The good news (I think and hope) is I just retained an attorney about 2 hours before the call. I'm trying to put off filing until Jan or so.
Lefty

In my experience, AMEX was the most persistent creditor I had. They continued to call me daily even after sending the account into collections, approx 4 months after non-payment.

I did send them a "cease & desist" letter, which they chose to ignore(they can do that as a creditor)and then copped a major nasty attitude. Whatever.

Their first third party collector was Nationwide Credit that quit calling after they received a "cease & desist" letter and the second collector was NCO which I successfully reached a settlement with after numerous violations of the FDCPA.

NCO was a great money maker with continuous collection attempts after their letter was received...including third party notification, work calls(where I no longer worked but a friend fielded the calls and gladly completed a deposition), threats of physical violence and prison...

They were great...

Then, all of a sudden I received a series of "settlement letters" in which the "settlement percentage" kept creeping down and down until the last one before I filed was at 20%....

I think they were desperate...but I was broke...

And, NCO was still calling...

Of course, AMEX never sued, never showed at my 341 and I made money off one of their pathetic collectors.

It was all talk and no walk.

I'm with HHM on this.

Scare tactics. Really, unless you get something in writing expecting your appearance in court then much of the collection activity is designed to get you to pay up and not much else.

Expect some activity from them though...

And, tell them what you want...just don't give them any real information nor make any promises. There is no law that says you can't tell a creditor/collector to fly to the moon if you want.

...including telling them you have a lawyer....even if you don't...

The FDCPA limits creditors/collectors, not debtors.

Regards,

CPO

[GoingDown]

The Amex collector guy just left a nasty-gram on my voicemail saying this is the last time he is calling and I will be receiving an important letter in the mail very soon. I never answer any of these calls or talk to any of these goofs. I haven't paid them in about 120 days or so...does anyone think this will be a move for a judgement or most likely a scare tactic? The good news (I think and hope) is I just retained an attorney about 2 hours before the call. I'm trying to put off filing until Jan or so.
Lefty

You have no idea how many "scary" and threatening phone calls I have received over the years.

Until you get a phone call from a local attorney, there is nothing to worry about.

They have to get a local attorney to sue you.

[leftyf]

Thanks...hopefully I'll file before I start getting those calls.

[CindyLou]

I owed amex over $4000 and didn't file for almost 4 years after I stopped paying them. I heard from them plenty, but no judgments. I got the usual settlement letters in decreasing percentages after the threatening phone calls stopped. Once I sent a C&D letter they stopped everything.