A deceased notation causes every lender to reject your application instantly. Mortgages, credit cards, auto loans, and even bank accounts become inaccessible. The economic harm is immediate and severe.
Reporting a living person as deceased is a textbook FCRA violation with strong actual and statutory damages. Bureaus have no legitimate basis to resist correction once you provide documentation that you are alive.
When we prevail, the bureau — and in some cases the Social Security Administration data source — pays all attorney fees. You pay nothing out of pocket.
Do I Qualify?
Has a bureau placed
a deceased notation
on your credit file?
A deceased notation error typically originates from a Social Security Administration death master file error, a family member’s account being confused with yours, or a creditor reporting the wrong person as deceased. These cases move quickly because the error is usually undeniable.
How Deceased Notation Errors Happen
Common causes of deceased notation errors
The Social Security Administration incorrectly marks your SSN as deceased in the Death Master File. Bureaus receive this data automatically and flag your entire credit file.
A creditor reports a deceased family member with a similar name or SSN — and the bureau incorrectly applies the deceased notation to your file instead of theirs.
A bank, credit card issuer, or lender mistakenly reports you as deceased when closing an account or processing an estate — often a data entry error.
A joint account holder's death is reported to the bureau, which then incorrectly applies a deceased flag to the surviving account holder's file.
Combined with a mixed file error, the bureau merges your file with a deceased person's — importing the death notation along with their other account data.
The bureau removes the deceased notation after your dispute, but the original data source re-reports it — causing it to reappear on your report, which is a separate FCRA violation.
Pull certified copies of your Social Security earnings statement (ssa.gov) immediately. If the SSA's records show you as deceased, you must dispute directly with SSA first — we can guide you through this process while simultaneously filing FCRA claims against the bureaus.
Save every denial you receive while the deceased notation is active. Each denial is evidence of economic harm and can support actual damages in addition to the $100–$1,000 statutory damages per FCRA violation.
Why AJG Law Group
Why AJG Law Group
for your deceased notation claim?
Deceased notation cases move quickly because the error is undeniable and the harm is immediate. We know how to document these cases, coordinate with the SSA when necessary, and move the bureaus to correct the error while pursuing full damages.
The FCRA is a fee-shifting statute. When we prevail, the credit bureau and/or furnisher pays all attorney fees. You pay nothing out of pocket.
Each failure to properly investigate a dispute, each inaccurate tradeline, and each unremedied error can be a separate FCRA violation — stacking damages in your favor.
AJG Law Group handles FCRA cases against Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and furnishers across all of California. We handle everything — you never need to appear in court.
