This is called knowledge-based authentication. The information is also on your credit report. You can create your account with the IRS or the Social Security Administration with all of your expected personal information, plus the ability to answer questions that rely on information that you would have in your head, not in your wallet. Government offices want to protect your privacy and money. And collecting Social Security benefits is important. Why do places like the IRS or Social Security Administration use your credit files to open an account?Ĭlearly, tax records are sensitive. The FTC says a freeze won’t prevent a landlord from checking your credit history, but some landlords ask you to temporarily lift any freeze. If you apply for a loan or credit card or an apartment, the bank or landlord will want to see whether you have a good track record of paying your bills on time and make sure you don’t already have so much debt that you may be unable to afford another obligation. Why do banks or landlords look at your credit history? The name of every company where you’ve applied for a loan or credit card during the last two years. Whether you’ve had any civil judgments against you in the past for accounts that went to collections, or that involved unpaid taxes. The payment histories dating back seven years for every account you have: Whether you’ve had payments that were 30 days, 60 days or 90 days past due or missed a payment. Previous names (for example, if you’ve changed your name because of marriage or adoption).Ĭurrent loans and credit cards, with your current balances and credit limits.Įvery loan and credit card you’ve ever had, with the original credit limit, the date you opened the account, when you paid it off, etc. Of course, there are the basics: Name, address, telephone number, date of birth, Social Security number and your past employers. The credit bureaus know more about you than you could probably remember without sitting down and putting considerable thought into it. Equifax disclosed that the credit files of about 150 million people - roughly half of the adult population - had been compromised and was in the hands of thieves. It took the Equifax data breach of 2017 to push lawmakers into action. And if you were applying for a credit card or a new apartment a year later, you’d have to pay $15 to thaw the files temporarily.Ĭonsumer groups had been advocating for free credit freezes for years. If you were in a state that allowed a $5 fee (pretty typical), then freezing your files with all three bureaus would be $15. Before that, it cost anywhere from $5 to $15 in most states each time you wanted to freeze or thaw your files with any of the credit bureaus. How much does it cost to freeze your file?įreezing and thawing your credit files is free, under a federal law that took effect in September 2018. Here are answers to some of the questions you may have about credit freezes: PIRG Education Fund Consumer Watchdog Associate Grace Brombach on her experience freezing her files online for the first time. In addition to our FAQ, we’re featuring step-by-step instructions to freeze your files, and you’ll hear from U.S. It also can prevent someone from accessing your tax records with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or opening a Social Security account using your information or potentially launching a slew of other problems. A credit freeze, also called a security freeze, prevents most entities from seeing your information in the credit bureaus’ databases.įreezing your files protects you not just from someone fraudulently opening a credit card or applying for a loan in your name. That’s roughly how long it takes total to freeze your credit files with the three major credit bureaus - Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Some of your worst fraud nightmares can be prevented in about 20 minutes.
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