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Depends on what credit agency your lender uses to check credit. Fwiw I was easily able to secure a loan under your name yesterday.
Pinot.Noir
Member
I just put a freeze on my account. They give you a PIN to use if you want to temporarily unfreeze your account. Shouldn't cause any delays.
I am about to pull all my reports and put freezes on my accounts. Should have done it when I was involved in the OPM breach, but didn't.
My understanding is it can be hard to find out which company a particular lender is going to use so that you only have to unlock one. If you can't, you have to unlock all three. And it stinks that you have to pay a fee for each unlock.
My understanding is it can be hard to find out which company a particular lender is going to use so that you only have to unlock one. If you can't, you have to unlock all three. And it stinks that you have to pay a fee for each unlock.
Same here, put on a freeze on all 3 agencies. I have inquired with my credit union and they use 1 agency in particular.
So I will un-freeze only that agency when the time comes. No need to pay to unfreeze all 3 when all that is required is the one your loan institution is going to use.
So I will un-freeze only that agency when the time comes. No need to pay to unfreeze all 3 when all that is required is the one your loan institution is going to use.
JeffK
Well-Known Member
Might consider Innovis too, it's not one of the big three but it's still a credit reporting agency.
Nosken
Active Member
Credit freeze offers the best protection. Most of those other things just alert you that the barn door was open and the horses escaped. A credit freeze actually keeps the horses from escaping.
If you're applying for a loan, sometimes you can find out which credit agency they are going to use, and if so, you just saw that one agency. Otherwise, you have to thought all three. I have had my credit frozen for a couple years, and it gives you great peace of mind.
Here is a good credit freeze guide Credit Freeze Guide: The best way to protect yourself against identity theft
If you freeze them in the order that is done on this article, the first site will create a number, you can use that pin number for the next site, and then only six digits of that pin number for the third site. This way you don't have tons of different pin numbers.
If you're applying for a loan, sometimes you can find out which credit agency they are going to use, and if so, you just saw that one agency. Otherwise, you have to thought all three. I have had my credit frozen for a couple years, and it gives you great peace of mind.
Here is a good credit freeze guide Credit Freeze Guide: The best way to protect yourself against identity theft
If you freeze them in the order that is done on this article, the first site will create a number, you can use that pin number for the next site, and then only six digits of that pin number for the third site. This way you don't have tons of different pin numbers.
Thanks Jeff, just did Innovis as well, pleasant surprise is Innovis was free...(as the others should be)
Minimize your risk and don't reuse PINs. Especially since Equifax's PIN is AWFUL. It's literally a timestamp of when you froze the account. So, all the people freezing their accounts now due to the Equifax breach all have similar PINs. To be specific, if you froze your account at 2:15 PM Eastern on Sept 9, you'd get a PIN that is 0908171415 (MMDDYYHHMM). Great security
Just use something like Lastpass to avoid having to "remember" PINs.
dgpcolorado
high altitude member
I'm in the process of freezing all three. Equifax, the villain in this scandal, was easy online and it seems to be free (not sure about unlocking though). Experian rejected my online freeze so I have to mail in the request (no fee for the first lock in my state). TransUnion has a free credit monitoring system that also includes free lock/unlock; I wonder if this is new because of the Equifax scandal? Pretty easy except that they are getting hammered today — no surprise — so it took several tries over a couple of hours to get my account locked.
Not looking forward to the hassle of unfreezing if I need another car loan or lease. I don't have any other need for new credit though, so it isn't as a big of a deal as it would be for someone who does need credit, especially big stuff like a mortgage.
Not looking forward to the hassle of unfreezing if I need another car loan or lease. I don't have any other need for new credit though, so it isn't as a big of a deal as it would be for someone who does need credit, especially big stuff like a mortgage.
I froze all three, and all were free. They seem to range between $5 and $10 to unfreeze them, which irritates me to no end. Why should Equifax (or really, any of them) profit from their screw up? If a company loses my personal information and puts me at risk, they should pay for credit monitoring for life, as well as cover any other costs that I have related to steps I am forced to take to protect myself. It’s not like after a year I’m suddenly not at risk anymore - I can’t exactly change my SSN or birthdate.
One question - why aren’t these reports locked by default if it’s so much safer? If I’m trying to open a new line of credit then I can give my permission to access them, otherwise it’s no one’s business.
One question - why aren’t these reports locked by default if it’s so much safer? If I’m trying to open a new line of credit then I can give my permission to access them, otherwise it’s no one’s business.
Jason Bourne
Member
OMG, it feels like Equifax is constantly looking for new ways to be stupid and unsecure. And to have to PAY THEM to freeze and unfreeze a credit report for something they did is unconscionable. But of course I'm going to do it and a lot of other people are too.Minimize your risk and don't reuse PINs. Especially since Equifax's PIN is AWFUL. It's literally a timestamp of when you froze the account. So, all the people freezing their accounts now due to the Equifax breach all have similar PINs. To be specific, if you froze your account at 2:15 PM Eastern on Sept 9, you'd get a PIN that is 0908171415 (MMDDYYHHMM). Great security
Just use something like Lastpass to avoid having to "remember" PINs.
I also froze at ChexSystems as well as the ones mentioned above. It was free like Innovis. Apparently they are a service used by a lot of banks.
dgpcolorado
high altitude member
Simple: they make their money by selling your information to other businesses. They really don't like it when you freeze your account.
I'm guessing that TransUnion and Experian are really annoyed with Equifax for costing them so much money and risking tighter regulation of their business. Not that regulation is likely in the current Congress, although some states might try to do something.
Nosken
Active Member
Because, that is how these companies make their money. They sell your credit profile to companies so you can get all those incessant solicitations for credit cards etc. That is one upside to freezing your credit, you get less, if any, solicitations for credit cards.
Nosken
Active Member
One great thing to help self monitor your credit is creditkarma.com. Just make sure you sign up for it before you freeze your credit, and they, along with anyone else that currently has access to your credit, can see your ongoing information.
CreditSesame.com is another.
CreditSesame.com is another.
This latest breach is an example of why freezes and unfreezes should be free for everyone. Probably needs an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Once you freeze your file, your spouses file, children, etc., across multiple credit bureaus, it goes from $10 to multiples (at least in my state).
The stewards of this information have not been good ones.
Once you freeze your file, your spouses file, children, etc., across multiple credit bureaus, it goes from $10 to multiples (at least in my state).
The stewards of this information have not been good ones.
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