kanebear

Long story short; cardmember since 1996. Business cardmember since 2002(ish) tied to family business (incorporated). At one time had both business and personal Centurion cards. Downgraded from the personal in 2014. Sold family business in 2013 and informed AMEX at that time. We kept zero ownership or interest in the business. Credit lines reduced but that was it. The new buyer kept our name as an Assumed Name and formed a new legal entity. They sold in 2015. New buyers, same name but another new entity. Those buyers filed bankruptcy in January. My account was closed, all cards cancelled, and my MR account shut down (with over 700k points in it) on February 12.

I still haven't received a letter yet (I'm told one is in the mail) but of the myriad of reasons for account closure that I've been given; the only reason I've been given for the closure that makes sense is that I filed bankruptcy. I was told that my business had shown up as filing bankruptcy in a Lexis/Nexis search and as a result AMEX had cancelled my account. Except I haven't and I have no ownership or interest in any business at present much less one that would have declared bankruptcy. I was referred to the law firm that handles bankruptcy collections for AMEX who told me they don't have the account because I'm not in bankruptcy nor is the business.

I put in applications for reinstatement for my personal cards but was told by customer service last night that those were declined. Then again that same (offshore) agent told me the account was closed due to late payments before "reconfirming" and saying nobody could figure out why my account had been closed. Other reps have told me I have a "stellar" payment record and my account was not closed for problems with payments or use. My credit score is in the mid-700s. I have written letters to the "Chairman's Office" as well as Greg O'Hara, who's the head of Global Business Travel.

At this point, I'm beyond frustrated and quite annoyed at all the time I've spent trying to rectify the issue. I've never had so much trouble getting through to someone that knew what was going on or why and I've never gotten so many conflicting answers from a company. Any insight or guidance would be very much appreciated.

DJ_Iceman

Well it was clearly a mistake to keep business cards for a business you no longer owned. Notifying AmEx wasn't enough--you should have closed those cards yourself and it seems that would have prevented the current dust-up. And I suspect that once you get through to someone at AmEx who actually takes the time to dig into your situation, they're going to ask about that specifically.

kanebear

I didn't state specifcally in the interests of brevity, but I did call to close them. They mentioned benefits to keeping those cards open and I did so, and they adjusted the credit lines. Wholeheartedly agreed; I should have just closed the damn things.

Often1

While this is going to be a matter of each state's contract law, it is more than likely that if the cards are open in the business name, you are responsible for them in all senses. Calling to cancel is not likely enough and it is certainly a counterpoint if you agreed to keep them open.

Among the things on the fairly common checklist of "to do" itens when one sells a business is closing, in wriiting, any trade lines for which you are currently responsible.

Have you checked to make certain that there are no unpaid balances or anything else subject to the bankruptcy stay which affect you?

kanebear

All debts for which our entity (and we personally) was/were responsible were satisfied in full in 2013 and the sale included indemnity and "hold harmless" provisions. The buyers had to establish all new tradelines and accounts. We insisted upon that for just this reason. Nothing remains for which we could be responsible.

Most importantly; all the cards have always been paid business and personal. The account is and always has been in good standing with on time payments. The successor entities/buyers may have had their own American Express accounts, I don't know. I cannot imagine how I could be held responsible for the actions of the buyers and/or the bankruptcy given this.

mia

If I understand correctly the accounts were closed three days ago, you have not even received the legal notification, and you are frustrated that it hasn't been resolved by telephone? This would seem to be the type of problem that would take months to resolve, rather than days. I would start with the lawyer who represented you in the sale of the business.

Bowgie

Marc Batchford

Kacee

And an indemnity from a business that is now bankrupt is worthless.

keisari

From the information you have given us it is obvious that you are not at fault. Amex should have done its "due diligence" and contact you before closing the account and loosing all those points. I hope you keep insisting and that somebody finally pays attention to what you have to say. Otherwise maybe a strong letter from an attorney or filing a small claims court will help settle the issue.
For the rest of us, lesson learned. You sell a business that will keep your name; detach yourself completely from it.
Best of luck to you.

Often1

Amex apparently did do its due diligence. It tracks bankruptcies and saw that one of its cardholders had filed for bankruptcy. It did what any sane card issue or other creditor would do and froze the account, e.g. cut its losses.

OP says that the transaction included a transfer of the Assumed Name to the buyer. That raises the question of whether he even had the right to maintain a CC in the name of a business he did not own or control.

I would stop dealing with Amex until I had consulted my attorney.

pdsales

I am not a lawyer in this is not legal advice.

This might be an appropriate time to point out one of the other hazards of using corporate assets for personal use and vice versa. The corporate shield that protects your personal assets from corporate creditors can be weakened when personal and corporate assets are commingled.

That's why you have separate corporate and personal checking accounts, and corporate and personal credit cards.

thunderlounge

Would the new entity have a different EIN? Would the second transfer of the company (to the third owner that filed) have created yet another EIN?

Point/question being, is OP's card under an EIN which is different than current ownership?

mia

It may be simpler. An automated search may have found that a company name associated with one of their business card accounts filed bankruptcy, and the accounts were closed by an algorithm which doesn't have the capacity to verify current ownership or responsibility.

scubadu

Call my crazy, but I honestly didn't think that was a lesson we needed to learn; I assumed it was abundantly self evident to anyone running a business.

Futhermore, the OP states:
so why in the world one would close the personal cards and keep the business cards, for a business that you have sold, makes absolutely no sense to me...

Anyhow, this OP is in the middle of a hot steamin' mess and this is one situation that ain't going to get solved from FT posters.

Regards