Topic: being sued by Zwicker/American Express

[tvaughn]

Just wanted to post a quick update.  My in-person hearing has been scheduled for the fall and it's for one day.

[tvaughn]

I seem to remember someone posting something a while back about a consumer law attorney in NJ, but the post has since been deleted and I can't remember who posted it.  If anyone has info they can share, please PM me.  I'm thinking about reaching out to someone to get some help with my arb case with Amex.  Thank you.

[Admin0248]

I seem to remember someone posting something a while back about a consumer law attorney in NJ, but the post has since been deleted...

That post was deleted by the Administrators.

Debtorboards does not endorse the recommendation of any lawyer or firm, nor does it allow our members to make such recommendation using our platform...and that includes personal messaging.

If you spend some time thinking about this policy, you will see that making such recommendations is not in the best interests of the recommender or of the person getting the recommendations.  Such things can come back to bite in ways that can cost both time and money.

Our policy has been developed over time and has been determined to be what is best for Debtorboards and Debtorboards, Inc.

[tvaughn]

@Admin0248:  Understood - my apologies.  I guess that's why the original post was deleted to begin with.  I appreciate your explanation, and I will do my own further research on the subject. 

[tvaughn]

Just got an email from JAMS indicating that today is the last day to cancel the matter without penalty and then the lawyer for AMEX immediately emailed me asking me if I have any interest in settling the matter.   I need to get back to him ASAP.   Please advise.

So I went ahead and told them that I was interested in settling and they of course asked me to make an offer so that they can see if we're in the same ballpark before they request an adjournment.  I think they should make the first offer since they're representing AMEX.  Thoughts?

[Flyingifr]

Just got an email from JAMS indicating that today is the last day to cancel the matter without penalty and then the lawyer for AMEX immediately emailed me asking me if I have any interest in settling the matter.   I need to get back to him ASAP.   Please advise.

So I went ahead and told them that I was interested in settling and they of course asked me to make an offer so that they can see if we're in the same ballpark before they request an adjournment.  I think they should make the first offer since they're representing AMEX.  Thoughts?

Any time someone asks me if I want to settle anything my immediate question is "how much are you willing to pay me to get me to go away?"

[tvaughn]

Any time someone asks me if I want to settle anything my immediate question is "how much are you willing to pay me to get me to go away?"

@Flyingifr:  Thank you so much; however, don't you think it's highly unlikely that they are going to just walk away (or pay me to go away) at this point?  What should I realistically do at this point?  We can still postpone/adjourn/cancel after today but the party that cancels has to pay 100% of the fees associated with the hearing.

[CleaningUp]

Don't the rules of your arbitration forum limit the amount of money that you are responsible for?

I would keep that in mind.

[BellEbutton]

Any time someone asks me if I want to settle anything my immediate question is "how much are you willing to pay me to get me to go away?"

Why would AmEx pay the OP?

[tvaughn]

So I made my offer of 10% of the alleged debt and deletion of the negative tradeline.  They immediately came back and said why don't you make a serious offer and that under no circumstance would Amex allow deletion of a tradeline as a bargaining chip in a settlement negotiation. 

I simply replied that I had made an offer as they requested and that they should please feel free to make a counteroffer.  I'm not going to negotiate against myself, so there was no way I was going to make another offer.

After a while they responded and said that no offer will be considered without financial hardship information being provided.  They said that to date I have not provided anything that would indicate that I have any financial hardship.  They have never asked for such a thing before so I don't know why they would say that. 

[CleaningUp]

My reply to a request for financial hardship information?

None of your business.

[tvaughn]

My reply to a request for financial hardship information?

None of your business.

Thank you.  Can you please explain the logic behind your reply?  I'm considering all of my options for a response and would like to know why you believe this would be an effective reply to their email.

[outtadebt]

Because they are tricking you into a back door debtors exam.  Once they know your assets and if you have any, the negotiations stop and they press ahead full speed with the arbitration and eventually court case.  As I said earlier, this is an OC.  An aggressive OC who will usually have everything needed to win a case.  Unless you have some leverage somewhere or can use the BK card as a nuclear option, they do not back down.

If you had offered 90%, they may have taken that just to save everyone the trouble.  But since they asked, you tried and at least now you know where things stand.  FYI, I am helping a relative in an arb case with them also.  But we have the BK option on the back end along with fully exempt income from garnishment.  So I have a few cards to play.

Do the best you can for yourself, but it will be a tough road.

[tvaughn]

Because they are tricking you into a back door debtors exam.  Once they know your assets and if you have any, the negotiations stop and they press ahead full speed with the arbitration and eventually court case.  As I said earlier, this is an OC.  An aggressive OC who will usually have everything needed to win a case.  Unless you have some leverage somewhere or can use the BK card as a nuclear option, they do not back down.

If you had offered 90%, they may have taken that just to save everyone the trouble.  But since they asked, you tried and at least now you know where things stand.  FYI, I am helping a relative in an arb case with them also.  But we have the BK option on the back end along with fully exempt income from garnishment.  So I have a few cards to play.

Do the best you can for yourself, but it will be a tough road.

Well if they are trying to trap me, I will not give them any information that is going to help them.  My feeling is that they asked for an offer and I complied with their request.  I didn't have to make an offer but I did.  They are choosing not to counter and they are choosing to not even consider my offer without hardship information - that is their right.

[tvaughn]

Don't the rules of your arbitration forum limit the amount of money that you are responsible for?

I would keep that in mind.

This is important information for me to know.  I assume this info should be in one of the documents that JAMS sent to me?