Credit Freeze
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A credit freeze (also known as a security freeze) allows an individual to control how a consumer reporting agency (also known as a
credit bureau A credit bureau is a data collection agency that gathers account information from various creditors and provides that information to a consumer reporting agency in the United States, a credit reference agency in the United Kingdom, a credit report ...
such as
Equifax Equifax Inc. is an American multinational consumer credit reporting agency headquartered in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia and is one of the three largest consumer credit reporting agency, consumer credit reporting agencies, along with Experian and T ...
,
Experian Experian plc is a multinational corporation, multinational data broker and consumer credit reporting company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Experian collects and aggregates information on more than 1 billion people and businesses including ...
,
TransUnion TransUnion LLC is an American consumer credit reporting agency. TransUnion collects and aggregates information on over one billion individual consumers in over thirty countries including "200 million files profiling nearly every credit-active co ...
, and
Innovis Innovis is the credit reporting division of CBC Companies and is considered the fourth largest consumer credit reporting agency in the United States, behind the “big three” Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Based in Columbus, Ohio, the co ...
) is able to sell personal financial identity data. The credit freeze locks the data at the consumer reporting agency until the individual gives permission for the release of the data. Typically, consumer reporting agencies only develop such a feature when prompted to by legislation. In Canada, this has led to TransUnion and Equifax not offering any form of credit freeze (instead directing consumers to their paid identity monitoring services, which have been described as 'ineffective'), until the passage of Quebec's Bill 53, the ''Credit Assessment Agents Act.'' Lifting a credit freeze requires a
PIN A pin is a device, typically pointed, used for fastening objects or fabrics together. Pins can have the following sorts of body: *a shaft of a rigid inflexible material meant to be inserted in a slot, groove, or hole (as with pivots, hinges, an ...
. However, in September 2017, a
security vulnerability Vulnerabilities are flaws or weaknesses in a system's design, implementation, or management that can be exploited by a malicious actor to compromise its security. Despite a system administrator's best efforts to achieve complete correctness, vir ...
in this system was identified: the PIN is in many cases guessable, and difficult or impossible to reset. Freezing one's credit will not prevent the
credit score A credit score is a numerical expression based on a level analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of an individual. A credit score is primarily based on a credit report, information typically sourced from credit bu ...
from changing. Existing companies with access to one's credit profile can still report positive and negative feedback on a credit profile, meaning if the credit profile is frozen, one's credit can still go up or down.


Canada

The first jurisdiction in Canada to legislatively provide for credit freezes was Quebec, with the passage of Bill 53 (the ''Credit Assessment Agents Act''). Starting in February 2023, Quebec residents can place a freeze. As of February 2021, Ontario was considering changes to its ''Consumer Reporting Act'' that would provide for credit freezes.


United States

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have a credit freeze law, the last state to pass such a law being Michigan in 2018. The first state to pass a credit freeze law was California, with SB 1386 sponsored by
Debra Bowen Debra Lynn Bowen (born October 27, 1955) is an American attorney and politician who served as the Secretary of State of California from 2007 to 2015. Previously, she was a member of the California State Legislature from 1992 to 2006. In March 20 ...
in 2002, effective 2003. In late 2007, all three of the major credit bureaus (following TransUnion's lead) announced that they would let consumers freeze their credit reports, regardless of the state of residency. State laws still apply, however, in instances where the cost or other details of the freeze are more favorable than they are under the industry-sponsored alternative. Credit freezes are frequently viewed as the most effective way to prevent financial
identity theft Identity theft, identity piracy or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. ...
. Each year in the United States, approximately 15 percent of all cases of identity theft are cases of new account origination identity theft, according to the
Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...
. This form of identity theft occurs when a criminal opens credit in another individual's name. In the credit origination process, access to a credit report is critical for a lender to make a risk assessment. Because a credit freeze effectively stops any access to the credit report, it places a block in the process of issuing credit. Individuals who freeze their credit reports must therefore unfreeze their reports before they wish to apply for credit themselves. However, these can be avoided with proper preplanning. With proper documentation, most individuals should be able to unfreeze your credit scores with all three bureaus within 15 to 20 minutes. Generally, electronic unfreezing process takes effect immediately. A credit freeze can also be placed on the credit file with The National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange (NCTUE) in order to limit fraud through a bad actor creating a utilities account in some else's name.


Federal preemption of state laws

In 2018, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act was passed. This act included a provision that preempted state laws, replacing the wide variation of state laws with a federal one requiring all credit freezes to be free of charge. The law became effective on September 21, 2018, at which point credit bureaus were no longer able to charge for a freeze. Requests have to be completed within one business day if made online or via phone. They have three business days to comply with a request if received via mail.


References


External links


Is freezing your credit the way to safeguard your ID?
''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'', June 19, 2006
State Security Freeze Laws
ConsumerUnion.org
Credit Freeze Survey
Majority of Americans are unaware of their ability to freeze their credit records, November 2007
Map of State Security Freeze Laws
LawServer.com
Equifax Credit Freeze Link

Transunion Credit Freeze Link

Innovis Credit Freeze Link

FTC Identity Theft Victim Complaint Data
January 1 to December 31, 2005, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC, USA, Pg. 6 Figure 5, "How Victims' Information is Misused." {{DEFAULTSORT:Credit Freeze Credit Identity theft