Why Does Equifax Say I Am Deceased?

Getting a denial letter that says you are deceased is disorienting. You did nothing wrong, you are alive, and somehow a credit bureau is telling lenders otherwise. This kind of error, called a deceased indicator, gets added to a consumer report when a furnisher, the Social Security Administration, or even a clerical mistake at the bureau level flags your file incorrectly. Once that notation is in your Equifax report, most lenders never even finish reading your application. Their systems see "deceased" and stop.

This is a direct violation of what the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires. Equifax must maintain reasonable procedures to ensure your report is accurate. A living person marked as dead is about as inaccurate as it gets, and the law gives you the right to dispute it and demand a correction.

What to gather, request, and document:

• Your Equifax report showing the deceased notation, note the exact wording and the date it appears
• The denial letter from the lender, especially any language referencing deceased status or Equifax as the source
• A government-issued photo ID and your Social Security card, you will need these to prove identity when you dispute
• A written dispute sent to Equifax by certified mail with return receipt, stating clearly that you are alive and the notation is false
• Any response Equifax sends back, whether they corrected it, "verified" it, or ignored your timeline
• A record of every lender, landlord, or creditor who denied you while this error was active

If you were mistakenly reported as deceased by Equifax or Equifax verified the deceased notation after your dispute, that is where Consumer Attorneys can help. This is not a minor typo. A deceased indicator that survives a dispute may give rise to a claim under federal law. Learn more about what to do when Equifax says you are deceased, bring your denial letter, and do not throw anything away. The sooner you act, the stronger your timeline