LexisNexis False 'Deceased' Reports Settlement: $13.5M

Two groups qualify:

1. Contact Members who reached out to LexisNexis since Aug. 11, 2017 about being wrongly labeled as deceased, and
2. Product Members whose identity verification or fraud prevention check returned an incorrect deceased flag during the same period.

No documentation is required. Contact Members will receive automatic payments, while Product Members must submit a claim form.

Being mistakenly declared dead by a credit reporting company might sound like a dark comedy plot, but for thousands of Americans, it's been a frustrating reality with serious consequences.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions FL has agreed to pay $13.5 million to settle claims that it incorrectly labeled living consumers as deceased in its databases.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions operates as a consumer reporting agency, compiling data that banks, employers, landlords, insurers and other businesses use to make decisions about people.

When someone applies for a credit card, tries to rent an apartment or undergoes a background check, there's a good chance LexisNexis data is involved somewhere in the process.

Problems arise when that data is wrong. According to the lawsuit, LexisNexis received information from national credit bureaus indicating certain consumers were dead, except they weren't. Once that false deceased flag entered the system, it could trigger automatic denials across multiple areas of someone's financial life.

One plaintiff described being turned down for credit because LexisNexis reported her as deceased. Proving you're alive when a computer system insists otherwise can be surprisingly difficult, often requiring extensive documentation and repeated contacts with multiple companies to correct.

The lawsuit alleged these errors violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which requires consumer reporting agencies to maintain accurate information and follow reasonable procedures to ensure the data they distribute is correct. LexisNexis has denied any wrongdoing but agreed to the settlement to resolve the litigation.

Two Ways to Qualify for a Settlement Payment

The LexisNexis settlement covers two distinct groups of affected consumers, each with different requirements for receiving payment.

Contact Members are people who proactively reached out to LexisNexis after discovering they'd been flagged as deceased. If you contacted the company at any point since Aug. 11, 2017 to dispute or inquire about a death notation on your records, and LexisNexis has documentation of that inquiry, you're in this group.

Contact Members don't need to do anything—payments will be sent automatically unless you opt out.

Product Members are consumers who may not have known about the error but were affected nonetheless. If an identity verification or fraud prevention check run since Aug. 11, 2017 returned an incorrect deceased flag from LexisNexis—typically because faulty data from national credit bureaus made its way into the system—you fall into this category.

Product Members must submit a claim form to receive payment.

Settlement administrators estimate each class member will receive at least $150, with payments potentially reaching $1,000 or more depending on claim volume and individual circumstances.