American Express judgment?
American Express can stop the purchase or sale of a home, freeze your bank account, force the sale of your home, or go after any other unprotected assets in California. We can help you settle or vacate a judgment with them.
Under $3,000
- (2 payments)
$3,000 - $10,000
- (3 payments)
$10,000 to $20,000
- (4 payments)
$20,000 to $40,000
- (5 payments)
Vacate a Judgment
Vacate Judgment Lawsuit
- $500 per month during litigation
Why do I have a judgment from American Express?
American Express filed a lawsuit to recover money they think is owed to them. The judge agreed. Whether you did not know about the lawsuit and / or did not answer the lawsuit and received a default judgment, or lost at trial the fact is that there is a judgment. Judgments in the State of California are valid for 10 years and can be renewed again. [See California Code of Civil Procedure Section 683.110-683.220]
American Express judgments do not appear on your credit report. However, when you apply for a loan the lender will pull another report from LexisNexis or CoreLogic that will show the judgment. When selling your home, the title company will often find judgments. The judgment will have to be resolved in order for your transaction to proceed. We help you resolve judgments quickly.
American Express judgments can be collected very aggressively.
- They can freeze your bank accounts without warning. [Learn more at California Bank Garnishment]
- They can take a portion of your paycheck until paid in full (Yes, you can still settle with them) [Learn more at California Wage Garnishment]
- They can force the sale of your home.
- They can force the sale of cars, other property, and all unprotected assets.
How to settle a American Express judgment yourself?
- Find out who to settle with Sometimes this is the most difficult part of the process. A copy of the judgment will need to be obtained from public records. You can then contact the attorney that represented the creditor in court. They may or may not be able to help settle the judgment. Sometimes the creditors that took the judgment are out of business, have declared bankruptcy, or sold the debt. You will have to find the entity that owns the judgment now and document how they own it. Even though American Express took the judgment they may have sold the judgment to another company.
- Create a hardship letter A hardship letter needs to document the reasons why the judgment creditor should reduce the amount that they are owed. A good hardship letter should be able to provide details of a job loss, divorce, medical issues, or any other event out of the ordinary that inhibits your ability to pay the full amount due.
- Negotiate A judgment creditor has all the power in a settlement negotiation. Until the client agrees to pay a price that judgment creditor wants, they will not sign off on the release of judgment. A good hardship statement and correct documentation may persuade the creditor to reduce the amount of money they are demanding. The perfect settlement price is what a client is willing to pay and what the judgment creditor is willing to accept.
- Write a Release of Judgment This is the document that after signing will be sent to the court and recorded in public records proving that the judgment is released. If this is not written correctly or signed off appropriately, then it may be invalid.
- Transfer Money and Get Release of Judgment Signed It is imperative that you make sure that if you send money to a judgment creditor, they will release the judgment as agreed. If they do not then you may have to take more expensive
- File Release of judgment in the correct county The settlement process is not complete until you file an original copy of the release of judgment inside the county that the judgment was taken. Most counties charge a small fee to file documents into the public record.