Freezing your credit can be a useful tool for those looking to repair their credit and who have one report that is not as favorable as the others. The purpose of a credit freeze is to prevent creditors from accessing your information. Some people believe that by freezing their one negative credit report, creditors will instead rely on a more positive credit report from another bureau. While this tactic is controversial, it has been discussed as effective on credit repair forums. Here are the steps for freezing your credit report:
A couple of things you should know about freezing your credit report.
- Only you can initiate a credit freeze
- It can take up to three days to unfreeze, so plan accordingly!
How To Freeze Your Credit File on Equifax:
- Go to the following website on Equifax: http://www.equifax.com/answers/help/security-freeze/en_cp
- Every state has different fees if you weren’t a victim of credit fraud or identity theft. Check your states fees here
Submitting Freeze Request by Mail:
Although some states allow a security freeze to be placed, temporarily lifted or removed in other ways, in most cases to request that a security freeze be placed or removed on your Equifax credit file, please make your request in writing to us by mail. To determine how to place, temporarily lift or remove a security freeze from your Equifax credit file, see the requirements for your particular state of residence.
To submit your security freeze requests via mail, please submit the following personal ID information: your complete name, including any suffix (e.g. Jr., Sr., etc.), complete address, Social Security number and date of birth.
- For the placement of a security freeze, provide the above required personal ID information via mail.
- To temporarily lift a security freeze, you must submit all of the following along with the required personal ID information:
- 10 digit personal identification number (PIN)
- Date range, if your state allows for a date range lift, (e.g. March 15 – March 21) for the temporary lifting of the security freeze, or
- Proper information regarding the third party to receive your credit report (e.g. Sears), if your state allows for a party(ies) lift.
- To permanently remove a security freeze, you must submit all of the following along with the required personal ID information:
- 10 digit personal identification number (PIN)
- Two (2) forms of identification (e.g. pay stub with address and utility bill)
This article was last updated on March 15, 2023