Paying off a debt monthly but original creditor keeps report

Submitted by kjones on Tue, 01/11/2011 - 16:08
Forums

I had 2 credit cards with American Express. Due to things out of my control my position at work was outsourced and I was forced to take another one at 50% salary. Since this put me in a bind I contacted American Express and asked if they had a hardship payment program. They said no. Since I couldn't afford to pay the monthly bills I quit paying. Within 6 months I got a call from a collection agency working for American Express telling me that they were about to serve me papers un less I could make payments. I agreed to their "hardship program" and now make monthly payments every month till it's paid in full. My questions is, every month, American express reports to the credit bureau as those 2 accounts as "charged off" with the amount everymonth minus my monthly payments. Ofcourse this shows as a negative mark. i have 17 of them now from A.E. - even though I'm paying it off. Can they keep doing this and why would they want to do this when I'm paying it off with monthly payments?

this is pretty normal, I went through it myself. It taught me that payment plans end up being a rip off.

Have you disputed this? this is difficult because you need this entry changed.. there is tons of up to date records so it won't be deleted.

this is a collection account and it is charged off. What you would hope for is a current account with past lates.

American Express FSB is supervised by the Office of Thrift Supervision. File a complaint with them.

Wed, 01/12/2011 - 14:01 Permalink