According To Her Credit Report, This Woman Is Dead

The game that we play with earning and burning miles and points is the basis for seeing the world for pennies on the dollar. I know I would not have been to as many places as I have been, nor would I have been able to attend the wonderful events that I have been to without the use of miles and points.

The Benefits Of Good Credit

Of course, to play this game, it is essential to keep your credit house in order. Contrary to what many people think (even though they speak about it as if they are an authority on the subject), receiving new credit cards does not destroy your credit. Sure, it dings it a couple of points on the inquiry but it bounces back up with each new approval as it improves your overall credit utilization (read this post for more on understanding credit scores).

That is why it is always important to keep an eye on your credit score and report. It can help to let you know if something is amiss and which company has reported it so that you can set about to get it fixed. The biggest ding I have on my report is from a payment that was over 30 days late from many years ago. It was a technical problem with Bank of America and how they kept putting my credit card payments on a $0 balance card while the other one went unpaid. Long story short, they refused to correct the reporting to the credit bureau and my score took a drop for a while.

According To Her Credit Report, This Woman Is Dead

But, what if you found out from your credit report that one of your credit issuers had reported to the credit agencies that you were deceased? That’s right – no new cards, no loans, no rentals, nothing that requires a credit check because potential financial partners with you have just pulled the report and found out that you are actually dead.

Except you aren’t dead. This is the case with a woman by the name of Alexandria Goree. She found out that a company had reported her as deceased and it took a long time to get two of the three credit reporting agencies to reverse her death (on paper).

Now, she is suing the agencies because of what was involved by this glitch involving her reported death. I certainly have no idea how this will turn out but it is a good reminder to all of us to stay on top of our credit. Credit card companies are certainly not above making mistakes.

In one instance, Citi was actually sending me the personal information and statements of someone else who happened to share my last name but had no relation to me. In this person’s case, he was already dead but can you imagine the headache it would have caused had he really been on the hook for all of these payments because he never received a bill or statement?

Always make sure you are on top of your credit – it is important, not just for miles and points, for many of the major financial decisions that you will make during your life.

HT: Foxnews