AMERICAN EXPRESS DEBT LAWSUIT SETTLED
We were retained on a case where American Express sued a consumer for $80,000
based on an allegedly defaulted American Express Platinum card. American
Express is an original creditor whom very rarely sells their debt to common
debt buyers such as Midland Funding or Unifund. They are the most aggressive
creditor that we have seen from our experience defending consumers in
consumer debt matters. In this matter, they originally retained the debt
collection law firm of Jaffe and Asher to pursue litigation against our
client but after Jaffe moved away from the business of debt collection
in New York, the case was later transferred to the debt collection law
firm of Zwicker and Associates whom handle most of the American Express
litigation that we see against consumers.
This was a particularly special case because our client works for a financial
institution and is licensed to manage people's money. FINRA has very
serious rules that must be followed in these circumstances and a judgment
in this case could have meant that our client could have lost her license.
We made sure to submit an answer with affirmative defenses to protect
her against judgment and keep the burden on American Express. After requesting
discovery materials, we noticed that although Zwicker was able to provide
two years of statements, all of the original contract forms were standard
and rubber stamped. Zwicker then filed a Motion for Summary Judgment which
we opposed with what we believed to be enough to push the case to trial.
Zwicker and American Express finally relented and agreed to settle the
matter for $30,000 over three years’ time which is generally unheard
of when dealing with American Express.