Woman says she had hard time convincing credit card company she wasn’t dead

CHARLOTTE — Cindy Hager’s husband, Danny, passed away in 2015. Fast-forward to this year, Hager says her credit card company sent her new cards in the mail, one with her name and one with Danny’s.

“I thought maybe I better let somebody know that he passed away in 2015,” she said.

So she called the card company, Synchrony, and agreed to send a copy of Danny’s death certificate.

“I thought for sure that they would go ahead and take care of it,” she said.

The company updated their records, she said, but it marked her dead instead of her husband.

“I went online to try to pay. Well, they had wiped me out completely,” she said.

She said she called the company to prove she was alive. She gave the company information over the phone, she said, but was afraid to mail anything with her personal information because of recent mail theft.

“You never know who’s going to get it,” she said.

She didn’t want to have an identity theft problem on top of this one. Meanwhile, she said she owed money on her credit card and wanted to pay, but couldn’t seem to. It’s not clear why. So now she was worried about interest and her credit score.

Hager said she tried to resolve it on her own for months.

“I didn’t know what to do,” she said.

So she reached out to Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke and he emailed Synchrony. The company responded a few minutes later, promising to look into it.

It never explained what happened. But, about a month later, Hager emailed Action 9. Her credit bureau issues appeared to be fixed. She called it a “miracle.”

“Everything has been put in place like it was supposed to be before I died,” she said. “I’m alive!”

It’s not clear how common this is. But Stoogenke has reported on a similar issue multiple times over the years, “Death by Credit Bureau,” where a credit reporting agency thinks you’re dead. It can block you from getting a house, car, credit card, student loan, and the list goes on.

Attorney Rashad Blossom is familiar with cases where a consumer has to convince a company he or she is alive. It can be much harder than you think.

“These cases can be very difficult. I mean they’re difficult even for lawyers. It is a statutory minefield to navigate,” he said. “You would think that you could just call them up and say here’s my Social Security number or send them some proof that you’re alive, but it’s surprisingly difficult.”

If you experience Death by Credit Bureau:

• Get a copy of all three credit reports. You’re entitled to a free one from each credit reporting agency each week.
• See if you can tell whether the mistake is with a home loan, car loan, or something else.
• Dispute it.
• You may have to go to the source.
• If all else fails, you may need a lawyer.

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