Problems with Lifting a Credit Freeze

Placing a security freeze on your credit report is one way to prevent unauthorized people from obtaining credit in your name. If you are an identity theft victim or are concerned about the possibility of identity theft, credit freezes are a tool to control your credit report. If you would like to obtain credit or allow a company to check your credit report while you have a credit freeze, you need to lift the freeze.

Extra Step

Consumers who have a credit freeze need to lift the freeze to obtain credit, putting an extra step in the process. Lift the freeze by submitting a request to the credit bureau using the PIN the bureau provided to verify your identity. If you have lost your PIN, you will need to contact the credit bureau for a replacement PIN, which will add yet another step to the process. In addition, you need to contact each of the three credit bureaus separately to lift the credit freeze.

Time Frame

Lifting a credit freeze can take up to three days after you notify a credit bureau that you would like to lift the freeze. This can slow the process of applying for a loan or credit card for which you would ordinarily be able to get instant approval. Although some states allow noncreditors, such as employers, insurance companies, cell phone providers and cable providers, to access a frozen credit report, other states do not. In those cases, you would need to lift the credit freeze and wait for the lift to go into effect, causing the process of setting up these services to take longer for you.

Cost

Many states allow credit bureaus to charge consumers to temporarily or permanently lift a credit freeze. Although the fee is typically waived for documented victims of identity theft, other consumers could be charged anywhere from $2 to $12 by each credit bureau at which the consumer needs to lift the credit freeze. If a lender needs to check the credit report at all three bureaus, this could cost the consumer as much as $36 to obtain credit.

Temporary Vulnerability

When a consumer lifts a credit freeze, the consumer becomes vulnerable to identity theft again while the freeze is lifted. During that time, thieves could also apply for and obtain credit in the consumer's name. In some cases, consumers can lift the credit freeze for a specific lender, meaning that only that lender can access the credit report. This helps prevent the temporary vulnerability.