Bank of America declares living customer dead...WHAT!

For the past 3 years, Bank of America has been telling credit agencies that Arthur Livingston is dead. The trouble is, he's not. In October, South Carolina resident Arthur Livingston was surprised to learn that his bank thought he was deceased -- and had been since May 2009. But three months later, despite having contacted Bank of America multiple times, he's more than a little frustrated.

It might be funny -- as Livingston's friends originally thought -- were it not for the fact that the error has put his life in limbo.

Because of the reporting error, Livingston and his wife can't get the loan they need to start building their family's new home. And despite the fact that he has two checking accounts, a savings account and two college savings accounts for his children at Bank of America, as well as a credit card -- which he pays off every month -- Livingston isn't benefiting from these good-credit deeds.

The problem seems to have originated in May 2009, when the Prosperity, S.C., resident sold his prior home. At that time, the bank began reporting him as deceased to the three major credit reporting agencies, according to ABC News. Now, Livingston's credit report reads "file not scored because subject is deceased.

Link

Talk about a mistake! What the heck was Bank of America thinking? This man had been paying on a credit card account, maintaining his accounts, saving his money and using his money and this was the answer he got when he tried to resolve the issue:

"I went to Bank of America, I brought this to their attention, and we're working on 100 days now with no resolution," Livingston told WIS-TV. Initially, the bank told him it would take 30 days to resolve, but despite the media attention, Livingston is still not officially "living."

I don't know how he's maintaining his sanity, because I would definitely be more than frustrated if this were me. Not to mention he's been patiently waiting over 100 days to get his life on track and in the meantime B of A is just screwing him harder making his life difficult. I smell a lawsuit...a huge one and I hope he sues the pants off B of A.

It's scary to think that a bank of this magnitude or any bank for that matter would continue to take your money and allow accounts to be maintained after declaring a customer deceased. I mean when does logic set in? When does someone at the bank say "hey guys, this person has been declared deceased by us....so why are all these accounts still open and in use"? Go figure

Some would say this is an example of why we should monitor our credit. Baaaaahhhhh, please, no Bank should be making a mistake like this and I shouldn't have to pay one crook just to tell me what the other crooks are doing. This is bananas!

This is just another example of why I don't screw around with these crooks. Banks are not trustworthy anymore. Besides, I'd rather trust my money to my dogs before I put it into their hands.

Greedy Morons!!!!!

reply to post by ThePublicEnemyNo1


Looks like the perfect opportunity to go off the grid to me...
I know a lot of people who would welcome this with open arms.

reply to post by ThePublicEnemyNo1


I say move your accounts to a different bank. Then MAX out the credit card.

Quit paying on the card, and when they complain, remind them that they think you are dead.

Looks like My wife and I need to get Bank of America to declare us both dead so we can collect one another's life insurance policies....what do I need to do? Sign me up!!!

Seriously though, a bank can not declare someone dead; only a coroner or court can make that official declaration.

Stories keep popping up about individuals who have been falsely announced deceased by credit reporting agencies or by the Social Security Administration. Typically, it is due to an error in reporting, but it can take place to any person. Social Security, credit bureaus falsely declare people dead. For an instance, Arthur Livingston, found out in late 2011 that Bank of America had declared him dead in 2009, which he discovered when trying to get a mortgage. How B of A continued to do Livingston’s banking for two years after declaring him dead is a mystery.

Surely one must have evidence of said death in order to declare someone dead. You have to have evidence that you are who you say you are when you perform any transaction with a bank. There must be more to it than a teller simply ticking the wrong box on some random page. There must be something more required when so much is at stake.

Best policy: Take everything you own out of the reach of any financial institution. If you have it on credit of any form, it's not yours. Remember that. Taking loans and credit and then thinking you own anything is simply self-delusion. Own it outright or accept that it's not yours.

My grandmother always said that no one can afford to take credit. She learned the hard way when my grandfather died in the early 60s and left her with a heavily-debted farm. This was a time when men did not listen to women so the farm sunk more and more into debt. She finally had to sell it and pay off the debt. She did this while putting her kids through university, helping them with their young families, and somehow amassing her own personal wealth. She wasn't rich but she was comfortable. She owned her home and car outright. She did not use credit. She never remarried either. She did it all on her own.

It can be done. You just have to have the gumption to do it. Learn that word, people. Let it define you.