Hey everyone. I'm new here and I ran accross this forum while searching on google for SOMEWHERE to ask a financial question. I couldn't find any information whatsoever on this, so hopefully someone will be able to help me.

Me and my husband have an American Express charge card (the one you're supposed to pay fully every month). Well we had it for several months, spending about $2,000 per month and paying it off consistently. (we were using it in place of cash and paying it off every month since it was easier to keep track of than withdrawing money constantly)

Well, back in january my husband got laid of unexpectedly, and having been the holidays we made the mistake of not having enough money saved up for this unfortunately, having bought presents and all. Well, we didn't pay on the card that month. I FULLY expected to have late fees since there was about a $3,500 balance on the card but I did NOT expect what we actually got charged.

Now, having read our contract when we signed up for the card I expected a 5% or so charge on the balance for not paying. What we ended up with is a $10, 000 bill. I'm not really sure how this could happen since the bill specifically says our account balance is somewhere around $3,500. It doesn't really explain where all these charges came from within one month of not paying. They're trying to charge me well over 100% late fees on what we owe from what I can see.

I'm not someone that usually complains about late charges (afterall if you didn't pay on time that's your fault) but THIS is ridiculous.
Can someone explain how this is even possible?

I'm only 22 yrs old, my husband is 24 and we really don't have any experience with something like this. Up until now we have been really good about paying on our credit cards and my husband has a really good credit rating for his age.

Does anyone have any answers on this, or information on someone I should contact (such as some kind of lawyer) to take care of this debt? I absolutely am NOT going to pay them $10,000 for a $3,500+ balance, though I am quite willing to pay the original balance plus a REASONABLE late fee, and I don't want my husband's credit ruined because he settled a debt that should have not been that high in the first place.