Consumer complaint received 2024-06-24 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was result of identity theft
Company: AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY
State: GA

Complaint narrative:
I have requested over XXXX times since XXXX for XXXX, XXXX, american express, and XXXX to validate the american express account ( s ) once reporting on my reports. 

I am writing to bring to your immediate attention a serious issue regarding unauthorized charges on my credit report that have persisted since XXXX. Despite my numerous efforts to resolve this matter, it remains unresolved, and my credit continues to be adversely affected and my life financially harmed. Please see attached police report In XXXX, I received a credit report indicating unauthorized accounts. I promptly contacted the company to dispute these charges, providing them with a police report to support my claim of identity theft. However, the company erroneously asserted that the charges belonged to me, despite the clear evidence I presented. 

It is now XXXX, and these unauthorized accounts are still haunting me. My repeated requests to have this erroneous information removed have been ignored. This practice is illegal, as is the continued reporting of this debt, particularly when I have furnished proof of identity theft to both the credit bureaus and the bank involved. This debt is unvalidate, does not follow the requirements and is a violation of 15 U.S.Code 1692g. Please see attached credit report According to the ruling in Engekhardt v. Gravens 281 SW 715.719, if no proof of the alleged debt is provided, then no debt exists. To date, I have never received any documentation substantiating the claim that I owe this debt. Moreover, the statute of limitations has long since expired. 

The continuous reporting of this false debt not only violates my consumer rights to privacy but also constitutes false misrepresentation, mail fraud, and identity theft. The repeated sale and re-aging of a charged-off debt, along with ongoing collection efforts as recent as a week ago, are clear violations of my rights. This is a violation of 15 USC 1692e ( 8 ). More specifically, Article 9, the assignment of a defaulted note is illegal. Both the assignee and the assigned are both liable for violations under 15 U.S.Code 1692e ( 12 ). So much so, that American express has denied me for new accounts stating i have old accounts unpaid. 

The financial harm caused by this situation has been ongoing for almost 7 years, severely impacting my life. 15 U.S.Code 1692a ( 6 ) states XXXX XXXX  and subsequent buyers are all debt collectors by law. They are not registered in my state of Georgia. 15 U.S.Code 1692c ( b ) law. However the debt collector, have communicated with the all caps name principal obligor, XXXX XXXX XXXX and has always referred to my principal obligor and not myself the agent, natural person and consumer in fact. This is a violation of 15 U.S.Code 1692c ( b ).

I also did a certified search for any debts owed by me to others in the state of GA and there are none. Please see attached XXXX  lien search. How does one owe with a debt collector who is not registered and also has not filed a lien since the alleged debt was owed. Where are they getting their debt validated from? 

Attached is my original dispute. They are still trying to collect.I have recently contacted American express to pay the taxes and the letter response from them states i owe them and they will not grant me a new card until the debt is paid. I tried to remedy this account via stamp duty to clear the taxes and not only did they steal my paid certificate of indebtness, they did not credit the accounts. See attached. 

XX/XX/XXXX they received payment and XX/XX/XXXX, they wrote and told me they will not honor the payment.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief