American Express through their attorneys Jaffe & Asher filed suit against our client for an alleged $15,000 debt. Due to our experience in defending against Jaffe & Asher, a very aggressive debt collection law firm on a number of occasions we understood that we would have to work tirelessly in defending our client against a judgment, and potential garnishment or bank levies. The case was made even more difficult because American Express is an original creditor and does not like to generally negotiate reduced settlements.
We submitted our answer with all the pertinent affirmative defenses and pressed on to show that we would potentially take this case towards a trial. After multiple negotiations with the attorneys at Jaffe & Asher, we were able to agree to an out of court settlement that would save our client over 60% off the debt, a great deal with American Express. Whenever $600 or more is reduced in a settlement, these creditors will usually send the consumer a 1099 so that they are liable to pay taxes on the amount saved. Our client was concerned about this factor but we were able to have American Express waive this provision which saved our client thousands more dollars.