Consumer complaint received 2016-04-10
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: IN
Product: Credit card
Issue: Credit line increase/decrease

Complaint:
Since 2005 I approximate that I have had at least XXXX different AMEX cards. Those would be personal credit cards. I own XXXX XXXX so maybe another XXXX or XXXX? I know my husband has had at least XXXX. XXXX. I have had access to XXXX AMEX credit cards in the last 11 years. I was so grateful to have so many credit cards because those cards were what enabled me to juggled the finances of my XXXX XXXX and maintain financial sanity at home. So when I was trying to book some Delta flights for my son and a friend to fly to XXXX for a scouting event, my husband to attend a family friend 's funeral and an employee 's flight for a weeklong conference, I was amazed by the lack of empathy on the part AMEX. 
Over the last 9 months I have had a false tax lien placed against me by the State of XXXX Department of Taxation. I am still trying to have it removed from XXXX but XXXX and XXXX have both deleted it from their records. 
I found out we had a tax lien while I was applying for a VA Refinance Loan. We were told that we did n't qualify due to our loan because of our credit scores being below their minimum requirement of XXXX. The lien was placed on my credit file in XX/XX/XXXX. I sought out the VA loan in XX/XX/XXXX. I own XXXX XXXX. I reached out to those same credit cards that once saved me and AMEX had decreased my credit limits. This act injured my life twofold, first, my personal finances became very tight but I still managed to pay our bills and secondly my Credit Score took an unrecoverable nose dive. When AMEX lowered my credit limits my Credit Card Utilization increased causing my Credit Score to decrease. I have a XXXX % Payment History. I am not a credit risk. 
Since then, I have been denied numerous times for all types of loans and credit increases. I requested a {$5000.00} increase on a business card for inventory in my retail but because of my credit score was poor, the bank that holds all of my business accounts, said " No. '' When I asked her why, she said, " Your credit card utilization is too high. '' If my credit limits had not been decreased I would only need to be dealing having a falsely placed Tax Lien on my record. 
Earlier this week, my son got the okay to go to the XXXX XXXX XXXX, a XXXX, and he and another boy needed flights to XXXX for this trip. Because, my son has just made XXXX XXXX and turned XXXX in a matter of weeks, I thought it would be a nice gesture and get him a XXXX ticket. But that would n't be right for him to sit alone in XXXX. So, I used my first class companion ticket and now both scouts are flying in first class. When I went to purchase the tickets the system would only allow me to use my AMEX Delta Select credit card. Being forced to do so, I did. Then yesterday morning my husband got the call that his friend 's father had died. I attempted to book him a flight paying with miles from of my Skymiles account and once again I was only allowed to use my AMEX Delta Reserve Card. BUT this time I could n't, my card was now over its limit. So I booked my husband 's flight on XXXX XXXX because they accepted my other credit cards. 
Last night I needed to book another flight, this time for an employee to fly from XXXX to XXXX for business. I decided to call AMEX to ask for a credit increase so I could use my AMEX Delta Reserve credit card to purchase my Delta flight. They denied the increase based on my incorrect credit score. How do you have a XXXX % repayment rating but a low credit score? That 's a separate complaint for a different company. I ended up calling Delta and buying her a coach ticket over the phone using a different credit card. 
I need my ability to obtain loans and credit. Please help.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation