American Express is one of the largest and most well know creditors across the world. Amex frequently pursues collection matters aggressively against consumers and small businesses and commonly sues them to collect on the outstanding amount. Unlike many other original creditors. American Express rarely sell their debt to third-party debt buyers. This means that defending cases against Amex is more difficult than a Midland Funding or Crown Asset Management because it is easier for American Express to come into court with monthly statements and the original card agreement as opposed to debt-buyers who have to show that they properly acquired the debt under the legal standards. That process can be quite difficult for debt buyers to prove. This ability by Amex to prove their case in court has always given them leverage when it comes to negotiating settlements in these matters.
Recently we have seen that Doyle & Hoefs, a debt collection law firm have been frequently and newly retained by American Express to collect on debt and to obtain and enforce judgments in New York and New Jersey. However, during the covid pandemic, we have noticed that American Express has lowered their settlement parameters in many scenarios and offer very reasonable settlements. Many of these offers have been obtained through Doyle & Hoefs. It is still critical to submit an answer to any complaint received from Amex to keep the burden on them to prove their case or as important to vacate a default judgment that they obtained to gain back the leverage. However, it is a pleasant surprise to see one of the most aggressive creditors from our experience engaging in reasonable settlement discussions these days for almost every consumer and small business that has been affected by Covid.