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Freezing Your Credit#

Note

If you ever experience identity fraud, I would recommend heading to r/personalfinance's guide to identity theft as a starting point. It is a living document and is very thorough. The information below is not updated with much frequency, and is only intended to be the basics on specifically freezing your credit.

What is a credit freeze?#

A credit freeze is a way to restrict access to your credit file. This is a good way to prevent identity theft, since no one can open any loans (credit cards, mortgages, etc) in your name. But it also means you cannot either. Landlords can still access your credit under federal law, but it might be more difficult for them to do so depending on the state, so you shouldn't have your account frozen when applying for apartments either.

When you need to apply for any sort of loan, you can temporarily unfreeze (sometimes called thaw) your account. This gives a window for your credit report to be accessible again.

How do you do initiate your freeze?#

Danger

If you forget all else, just remember, this is free. DO NOT ENTER ANY PAYMENT INFORMATION.

There are 3 main credit bureaus, aka 3 companies that control your credit. In order to truly freeze your credit, you need to freeze your credit at each of them. By law, credit freezes are free. These companies may try upsell you, but to just freeze your credit, you should not be spending any money. Do not sign up for any paid services.

Equifax#

First, create an account at equifax.com. Then go to their freeze page. If the link is broken, from the main dashboard, it should show you your credit score and a list of options on the left. Choose Freeze under Your Identity. Then follow the steps to freeze your account indefinitely.

Experian#

First, create an account at experian.com. Before freezing your account, make sure to go to your settings and turn on two step verification. Then go to their freeze page. If the link is broken, its much harder to find. The only guaranteed way I found was to find the help center at the very bottom. Once there, there should be a Manage a security freeze option. This will take you to the page where you can freeze your file. Make sure to freeze your file indefinitely.

Warning

Do not sign up for Experian CreditLock. That is a similar service that is paid. Make sure you know what you are doing before you sign up for it.

TransUnion#

First, create an account at transunion.com. They make it a little convoluted, as they have separate accounts for their paid vs free services. Make sure you create an account through their Service Center. If the link is broken, just search for freeze, select the option that looks most like Credit Freeze, and follow the steps to Add a Freeze. It should reroute you to create an account if you are not logged in.

Then go to their freeze page. If the link is broken, it should be easy to find Credit Freeze on the home page. You should then add a freeze to your account indefinitely.

Now that your credit is frozen, what to do when applying for a loan?#

When you apply for a loan, you will need to unfreeze your credit. Do not just unfreeze your credit indefinitely. Instead, you should "schedule a thaw" or "temporarily lift freeze". Make sure you choose a window range around when you are applying for a loan, not just when you need the loan/apartment by. A few weeks is usually a good window.

Closing Thoughts#

Credit bureaus are required to provide this service for free. Since it is free, they do not put much effort into making this service easy to find, easy to use, or secure. They sometimes actually go out of their way to make it hard, so that you gravitate towards their paid products. While not as bad as TurboTax on multiple fronts, these practices are still in the same vein. If you believe the current way this is set up is unethical, you should contact your representatives.