Dead client walking

Bank of America Corp. mistakenly told the three major credit reporting agencies that Arthur Livingston, 39, of Prosperity, S.C., was dead, according to a report from ABC News. A 14-year bank client, he realized only in October when he tried to get a loan from a mortgage firm that he was dead to the credit agencies. A couple of days later, he notified the bank. Thus began a seemingly endless effort to get BofA to bring Mr. Livingston back to life. Between October and February, he made a dozen inquiries into his credit report, which hurt his credit score despite the fact that the credit bureaus still thought he was dead and weren't tracking payments on his credit card and other activities. The credit bureaus updated his status as living Feb. 22. The problem appears to have started when the father of two sold his home in May 2009, Mr. Livingston said. Construction was supposed to begin on the family's new home in mid-December, but because he couldn't get a loan, construction was halted on the house. Meanwhile, the family has racked up $6,000 in rental costs that likely will continue to grow. Even worse, the building costs themselves have risen by $4,000. BofA customer service representatives have declined to help him cover the extra costs but have said that they will get back to him after they receive additional documents from the very-much-alive client. “We have worked directly with Mr. Livingston to correct the situation and have apologized for the error,” said BofA spokeswoman Nicole Nastacie, who added the firm doesn't talk about private client matters. Mr. Livingston said that he wants the banking giant to reimburse him.