How To Freeze Your Credit File
What’s up family? This is your boy Ivan Hall the credit King, is it possible to place a credit freeze on your credit file?
Credit Freeze
A credit freeze protects you by blocking access to your credit reports. When someone applies for credit using your personal information, a lender or card issuer typically checks your credit before making a decision. If your credit is frozen, the potential creditor cannot see the data required to approve the application. You can use a pin or password to unfreeze your credit when you need it.
How to freeze your credit
Contact each of the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion individually to freeze your credit,
Equifax calls 800-349-9960 or go online.
Experian, call 888 397 3742 or go online
TransUnion calls 888-909-8872 or go online.
You can also freeze your credit report to lesser-known credit bureaus that may have information about you;
Innovis call, 800 540 2505 or go online,
National Consumer telecom and utility exchange, call 866-343-2821 or go online.
Generally, you need to provide your social security number, birth date, and other information confirming your identity. Once a credit freeze is in place, it secures your credit file until you lift the freeze. You can unfreeze credit temporarily when you want to apply for new credit.
How to Freez & unfreeze your credit
Go to the Credit Bureau website and use the pin or password you use to freeze your credit to unfreeze your credit. You can also unfreeze your credit by phone or postal mail if you can provide the pin established when the freeze was set up. Unless you use postal mail, unfreezing takes effect within minutes of requesting it.
When you are applying for credit, you can ask the creditor which credit bureau it will use to check your credit and unfreeze only that one. Or if you’re shopping for a loan and may take several applications in a short period, you may choose to lift the freeze at all three major credit bureaus. You can choose to unfreeze for a specified time period, after which the freeze automatically resumes.
Parents and guardians can freeze the credit of a child under 16. If you request a freeze for your child, the credit bureau must create a credit file for the child then freeze it. In addition to supplying the information required for an adult credit freeze, you’ll also need the child’s birth certificate and proof that you have the right to freeze the child’s credit. If you’re not actively shopping for a credit card or loan, freezing your credit is wise.
Data Breach
Now that freezing credit and unfreezing credit are free. I recommend that all consumers protect themselves in this way. If you think your data may have been compromised, for instance, in a data breach, get a credit freeze. It’s especially key if your all-important social security number may have been disclosed. The disadvantages of a credit freeze are a freeze can give you a false sense of security, you may still be susceptible to fraudulent charges on an existing credit account if it’s been compromised, or health care or tax refund scams involving your social security number.
It’s still important to check monthly statements carefully for signs of fraudulent activity. It can complicate creating my Social Security account to track earnings estimate future benefits, etc. Dodd, you can do so with a credit freeze or fraud alert in place. But you will have to go in person to a social security office, your insurance rate could increase if your state allows the use of credit information to set rates.
In some cases, insurers can’t access your frozen file and might not give you a discount a good score entitles you to if that happens, you can call your agent to find out if you need to unfreeze your credit. It can be somewhat inconvenient because you need to remember to lift the freeze when you want to apply for credit. That inconvenience pales in comparison to having to unwind fraud or identity theft, though, you may forget whether your credit is frozen. If that happens, there are simple ways to find out if your credit is frozen.
Credit Lock
Both a credit freeze into credit lock block access to your credit reports. However, a credit lock is a product offered voluntarily by a credit bureau that may charge a fee. Equifax credit lock is free. TransUnion offers a free lock through its true identity product or as part of a broader paid subscription experience lock is available only as part of a paid subscription package. Credit-free services are mandated by federal law and are free credit locks may offer convenience such as being opened and closed with a finger swipe on an app, but they offer fewer legal protections than a freeze. A credit freeze makes your credit reports inaccessible to most people.
With a few exceptions. You can access your own records, including getting your free annual credit reports. You can also check your free credit report summary and score while your credit reports are frozen. Your current creditors still have access as do debt collectors. Marketers can see your credit reports for the purpose of sending you offers in certain circumstances, government or child support agencies can see them you can still give permission to an employer or potential employer to check your credit through the version they see omit certain details.
Whether you freeze your credit report or not the choice is yours now go get that money