Consumer complaint received 2017-09-14
Product: Debt collection — Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was already discharged in bankruptcy and is no longer owed
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY

Complaint:
Back in XXXX of 2017 I filed a CFPB Complaint on behalf of my daughter who is XXXX and is unable to attend to her own business. The complaint was against American Express for the treatment by a collector who harassed her family and friends while she was in a XXXX trying to collect a pass due amount on her account I was paying the payments on for over a year. The collector made false statements and promises to me, he harassed me for payments even when the account was current, he would call a few days before for the payment. In this complaint I mentioned my personal American Express Account and the problems with a representative who discriminated against me and cancelled the card due to a returned payment on the account, but required me to send in all kinds of financial information anyway under the ruse of re-opening the account, and of course he did not reopen the account and stated that I had more then one account that was past due, referring to me as a card holder on my daughters account. From that previous complaint a senior management assistant phoned me and made an offer to settle my daughters account, he reversed some interest and we agreed upon an amount for pay-off, however when we received the check that was agreed upon it was short by {$250.00} which was another months interest charged because it took them so long to refund the money. I called this person to speak to them about it, however he has never phoned back. The same person discussed my account at the time. I informed him that when I filed a business bankruptcy the trustee wanted me to include personal accounts of which American Express was one. I needed this card for business so I entered into an agreement with American Express to redeem the account and not include it in bankruptcy, As soon as this agreement was made the other collector contacted me because a check payment was returned, I explained that I had theft on my bank and had to close the account, their payment got caught up in the problem, I replaced the payment and he closed the account even though I made an agreement to re-affirm the account in bankruptcy. I think American Express reaffirmed this account only to collect on it, not to leave it as an active account as promised with the reaffirmation agreement. I discussed this with the senior management assistant who called and he said his boss would call me, which never happened, but he called back and said he was trying to get the account re-opened. He called again and said that the only way to open the account is to pay the balance in full. I explained that it was included in bankruptcy and had additional charges accrued since being placed in bankruptcy and that American Express violated a prior agreement. I said I would pay off the account with adjustments to the balance if the card was re-opened as originally agreed upon in the reaffirmation. I asked him to put it in writing because of American Expresses tactics in collections, agreeing to a pay-off amount on my daughters account then deducting interest from the amount because it took them so long to pay the refund. Then trying to collect on my account when it was in bankruptcy, agreeing to an affirmation that was only for collection purposes and not to keep the account active as intended, so I asked him to put this agreement and pay-off amount in writing. That is the last I ever heard from him, he does not return my calls, nor has his boss who was suppose to be handling this personally ever make contact. I received nothing in writing and no further contact. I believe this was just another illegal tactic to collect the full amount of the debt from me on a card that was listed in bankruptcy. They violated the agreement to re-affirm the account, so the account stays in bankruptcy. They are reporting the account as a collection 90-day late account on my credit report, and I am trying to rebuild my personal credit and this incorrect reporting is appearing as current collection and harming me further. I wrote to American Express and asked them to report the card correctly as being discharged in bankruptcy, but they have refused to do so and the person whom I was dealing with I believe was just lying to me so he could collect the balance, just as he failed to uphold the entire promise of the pay-off on my daughters account and deducted interest from the amount I agreed to for settlement. This company is illegal in their collection efforts and the way they treat card holders, they make up information of settlement just to benefit them and then do n't follow through. So my daughters complaint was not fully satisfied as agreed, and they have for a second time given me a false ( lie ) on agreement to re-open my account and pay-off requirements. I need this card reported correctly and they refuse to do so or to even discuss the matter.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation