By now you know that freezing your credit reports is one of the better steps you can take to protect yourself from financial scammers. But what happens when you actually need access to your reports?
Freezing your credit will make it temporarily less convenient to do things like open a new credit card, sign a new lease for an apartment, open an electricity account or even switch your cellphone provider (it does not prevent you from getting your free annual credit report). In our view, it’s still worth it—you’ll gain an extra layer of security against fraudsters, which we all need in 2018.
But if you do want to, say, rent that dream apartment, you’ll need to unfreeze or at least thaw your credit reports so your landlord can check your credit. Here’s how to do it.
Thaw Your Credit Online
The easiest and quickest way to thaw your credit will be online for all three of the major credit bureaus.
In Equifax’s case, you’ll set up a password-protected account when you freeze your credit now, so to unfreeze your report you’ll need that password. You can also unfreeze it via mail or phone, though you will need a PIN to unfreeze your reports if you do it one of those two ways, which is an added nuisance. So doing so online is the best and most convenient option for most people.
That said, TransUnion and Experian require a PIN to freeze your credit (TransUnion requires a six-digit PIN, Experian requires a five to 10-digit PIN).
Passwords can be safer than PINs, so long as they’re sufficiently random. Lifehacker has a few resources on how to create a strong password, and you can (and should) also use a password manager.
The important thing to consider when you thaw your reports is whether it’s a temporary thaw or a prolonged one. If you’re in the process of buying a house, for example, you’ll want to lift the thaw altogether (you can do this easily online).
But if you’re, say, setting up your cable account, a temporary thaw will probably work. “The credit-reporting agencies have a feature that lets you select a window for when a thaw goes into effect and when it will automatically refreeze,” writes Consumer Reports. Check with the creditor to see which bureau they pull a report from so you only have to thaw that account.
Just remember to check your credit reports (and use a credit monitoring service) when you thaw your reports, particularly if you lift it for a few months.