By keeping you from becoming a victim of fraud or identity theft, freezing your credit might be helpful. When you wish to apply for a new line of credit or borrow money, however, it might also complicate matters. Should you have to unfreeze your credit report and score here, here is what you need to know to help you accomplish it as quickly as feasible.
Submit the Request to Each of the Credit Bureaus
The first action is to submit a request to the three primary consumer credit reporting agencies which are; Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Regardless of whether you have frozen your credit through the Internet or by completing an application and sending it, you’ll have to get in touch with each of them individually. If it is possible the quickest way is to do it online. However, if you are unable to sign it electronically, you will need to complete a written statement and send it or fax it to the authorities.
Currently, the majority of credit bureaus offer options for unfreezing your credit as soon as you initiate the procedure online or via a phone call. Nevertheless, it is always advisable to note that written requests normally take three business days upon receipt of your letter from the credit bureau. Thus, to unfreeze, going through the credit bureau websites is the fastest method to undertake.
To Give Your Personal Identification Number or Password
It is very important that when you are applying to have your freeze lifted, you will be requested to present some of your identification details. This comprises basic individual information such as the individual’s name, residential address, date of birth, and social security number. Another requirement will also be to give a specific PIN or password which will be used to unfreeze the account.
The PIN should be given to you at the time when you first locked your credit file. Store this in a secure place where it can be easily retrieved anytime by the holder. This is important so that when you are seeking some information from the credit bureau you can easily be identified and your request processed faster.
Know the Cost Involved
Re-activating the credit freeze is usually free when you are an ID theft victim and you have a proper investigative or incident number report. Otherwise, the rights of the credit bureau are to charge a fee which can be different for every credit bureau. The fees are $3 to $10 every time you use a credit freeze
Go Further Understanding How Long it Takes?
If the credit bureau receives a verifiable request from the consumer, the credit freeze must be lifted within an hour. Sometimes it can even take up to 15 minutes to position all the required pieces in the right place. It is intended to be a very swift process in a way that the credit bureau is afforded ample opportunity to authenticate the details of identity and at the same time, you as the credit seeker, are afforded a rather timely means through which you can access credit whenever the need arises.
When using mail to request it rather than over the internet or through the phone, then you would have to wait for 72 hours before the freeze is lifted. That means that when time is of the essence when seeking credit or loans, then do not use written letters as this will only delay the process.
Lift Only for a Short Period Only means that only specific provisions will be lifted for a short time to be reinstated later.
Solutions to the problem include the fact that one should not allow his or her credit to remain thawed for long after lifting a freeze. This puts you again in the same position as those fraud risks that make you put your reports on hold in the first place. Thus, only unfreeze such accounts for as long as you wish to access the accounts you froze earlier.
Most credit bureaus permit the onus to be released for a specific period, for instance, 24 hours or 1 week. You also can unfreeze the credit file for a particular party, for example, the lender who needs your credit report and score. Limit the time you spend on social networking sites and reduce their accessibility to avoid revealing your identity and monetary details to others.
Check Your Credit Afterward
Once you are done applying for credit or securing a new loan, you should unfreeze your account at each credit bureau and then refreeze it immediately after. Periodically, revisit your credit report, a week or two after to ensure there are no fraudulent accounts that may have been opened under your name during this period.
This makes sure you exercise control over anyone accessing your credit by keeping the freeze on as much as possible. Weighing it occasionally when it is legitimate to do so for your credit applications or inquiries.
Boost Your Credit Score
The credit freeze keeps you from having identity thieves open a new account in your name and use your credit to make purchases. But it can also hinder you from building a good credit status in the credit-reference bureaus.
If you had to lift a freeze to apply for credit, make a habit of monitoring this new account for timely payments. Credit scores were worked on by paying more on debt, low credit card balances, and not applying for too much credit at once. All of these actions can lead to an increase in your credit score rating in the long run.
The credit bureau should be informed of changes including name, employment status, home address, place of employment, and social security number.
The following should be done if you alter or update your name, address, or phone number; contact the credit bureaus. So that there will always be a way to confirm your identity any time that you request to have your freeze lifted. Also offer them your new PIN, password, or other relevant details should there be any as a result of the update.
This way, each credit bureau can promptly address and verify the freeze lift requests since keeping you updated means they do not have to check all your account information from scratch. To ensure that they do not come across any trouble when paying, make sure that they can verify that you are the account holder.
Let us discuss in detail one of the types of fraud alerts, namely, an Extended Fraud Alert.
However, in case you may need to lift a credit freeze every time you need to access your reports, you may opt for an extended fraud alert. This gives a signal to the lenders that they have to go to a certain extent to confirm your identity to extend credit to you. But it also allows you to build a credit history at the same time as growing a balance.
By law, the fraud alert must remain in effect for one year and can be repeated after the expiration of this term. Just bear in mind that you still have to keep a lookout for your reports daily for any signs of malicious activities with this different method.
Freeze Your Credit Reports
The concept of credit freeze means that a person can protect himself from identity theft while still enabling the lending companies to consider him for credit applications whenever necessary. You just have to ensure that each credit bureau requires that you follow certain procedures to have the block security measure lifted and re-imposed. The procedures outlined above can help you regain access to your credit quickly when the need arises, all the while keeping your identity safe.
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