Waking up in the morning and discovering that your credit report says that you are deceased – when you are very much alive – is a surreal experience.
Our seasoned legal team has an exemplary success rate in correcting consumers’ credit reports and obtaining compensation for damages caused, in numerous cases in which individuals were erroneously indicated as deceased.
An erroneous deceased notation may be reported in connection with specific accounts, or as a notation on your entire credit report.
Reporting a consumer as deceased on a specific account occurs when the account is reported as being associated with a deceased individual. It can happen when someone else who may have been associated with an account had died, like a family member or spouse.
Reporting a consumer as deceased on their entire credit history can stem from the individual’s Social Security Number, which may be the source of the error. This could happen if the Social Security Administration reported the consumer as deceased by including that individual in the Death Master File.
This error can prevent you from obtaining different lines of credit, such as:
- Obtaining a loan or mortgage
- Getting a credit card or increasing an existing card’s credit limit
- Opening a bank account
- Getting health insurance
And even keep you from finding employment and housing.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act
Inaccurately reporting an individual as deceased is a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). This federal law mandated that credit reporting agencies follow reasonable procedures when preparing consumer reports to ensure the most accurate information possible. When credit reporting agencies mistakenly report a living individual as deceased, it means they have not ensured the accuracy of the information in their databases.
If you have been reported as deceased, there are a number of things you can do to start the process of correcting this information. You can:
- Request copies of your credit reports from all three credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
- Contact the Social Security Administration. Request a letter verifying that you are, in fact, still alive.
- Contact an experienced attorney. At Consumer Attorneys, we can help you to sue the credit reporting agencies to correct this error and get you the compensation you deserve.
Our attorneys can guide you through the process of resolving this issue by identifying the right course of action for you. If you have been mistakenly reported as deceased and need legal assistance, contact our team today.
