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Credit Reports - The good, the bad and the ugly


In the wake of the Equifax breach last summer, I'm sure there are many people who feel a certain amount of apprehension when it comes to discussing or even thinking about their credit report.

If, like me, you're in the fifty percent of Americans whose, information was hacked and stolen in the breach, then you are understandably nervous and probably angry at the sloppy manner Equifax and our government have responded.

Aside from freezing your credit there is not too much you can do to protect yourself. But, before you choose to freeze, you need to educate yourself as to how this could impact you.

Your credit report is used/examined in many transactions that you might not be aware of such as job applications, rental applications and buying insurance. Freezing your credit won't stop you from doing any of those things and it won't affect your credit score, but it will complicate the process because you will need to first unfreeze your credit with at least one and most likely all credit reporting agencies for the period of time to complete the process and then re-freeze your credit once the process is complete.

This means that your credit report is vulnerable for the time necessary to complete the transaction. This unfreeze/re-freeze is not necessarily instantaneous, so be sure to allow the proper amount of time before the transaction to have your report unfrozen.

Additionally you will be responsible for the fees and paperwork that must be submitted to each agency for unfreezing and re-freezing your credit. Fees vary by agency as well as state law.

Take the time to educate yourself about this issue. This blog is certainly not a complete resource but is intended to help you begin the learning process. I'm including some additional links to help, but this is not a comprehensive list so keep researching and talk to your financial adviser or attorney:

Federal Trade Commission - Credit Freeze FAQ's

The difference between a credit freeze and a credit lock

Experian blog - 7 things to know before freezing your credit

Huffingtonpost -heres-why-you-probably-dont-want-to-freeze-your-credit_us_59b9cdd8e4b0edff97192cc9

You're entitled to a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each of the credit reporting companies. Here is more information about that as well as a link to the website to make the request:

Federal Trade Commission - Information About How To Get Your Free Credit Report

www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action


Here are the links to the credit reporting agency's websites to begin the freeze process:

Experian - Security Freeze

TransUnion - Credit Freeze

Equifax - Security Freeze






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