Credit freezes are a good way to prevent identity theft. If an identity thief applies for a loan or credit card in your name, the bank or credit card company where they apply  won’t be able to get your credit report if you have a freeze in place. There are very few lenders that will issue a loan or credit card unless and until they can review an applicant’s credit report.

A new federal law  that allows consumers to freeze and unfreeze their credit file went into effect last Friday, September 21st. Under the previous law, consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) were allowed to charge consumers a fee for freezing and unfreezing their credit file. The new law eliminates those fees.

The new law also allows consumers to freeze and unfreeze credit files for their children or other dependents who are under age 16, as well as for adult family members who are incapacitated.

In addition to preventing identify theft, credit freezes provide consumers with a less obvious, indirect benefit. CRAs collect data on us without our consent and there are few restrictions on how they can use it. In other words, we’re not their customers. We’re their product. CRAs make money from selling our credit reports. But they can’t do so when there is a credit freeze in place.

For credit freezes to be effective, they have to be placed with each of the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies. If you place a freeze with only one agency, you run the risk that a lender will get your credit report from another agency where you haven’t placed a freeze.

You can request a freeze online, telephone or by mail. Below is the information you’ll need to do so.

Equifax

Website link:  Equifax Freeze Page
Phone: (800) 685-1111
Mail: Equifax Security Freeze, P.O. Box 105788, Atlanta, Georgia 30348-5788

Experian

Website link:  Experian
Phone: (888) 397-3742
Mail: Experian Security Freeze, P.O. Box 9554, Allen, TX 75013

TransUnion

Website link:  TransUnion
By Phone: (888) 909-8872
By Mail: TransUnion LLC
P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19016

If you want to place a credit freeze for your children or for someone other than yourself, you’ll have to submit certain documentation to the CRAs, such as a birth certificate, Social Security card or power of attorney. That can only be done by mail.

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