That’s a pretty poor answer. Most places can tell you the one place to unfreeze. I’d probably say never mind, I don’t need your card that much.
@TiggerDad — Citibank also could not tell me which of the agencies they use. Most other vendors will, although it sometimes takes a few minutes for the rep to find out the answer.
I don’t want to unfreeze at each agency b/c I pay a $10/fee/agency here in CT.
@OHMomof2 —there really isn’t any paperwork. You log on using the PIN provided and indicate how long you want the account unfrozen, pay the $10 fee, and that is the end of it. The first time I did this I did not know how long it would take for the CC company to process the application, so I unfroze for too long. I was able to log back in and alter the freeze date with Equifax and Trans, but generally, there is no need to log back in once you have initiated the freeze.
There should be a cap on the number of credit bureaus in existence. It sounds like it is getting very expensive to deal with all of them.
The two newest haven’t charged anything to freeze (but haven’t tried lifting the freeze and re-freezing).It would be better if there was better mandated security on all of them and that the companies would have to freeze and lift freeze and no charge to consumers.
Good to know. I almost had to deal with this as my phone died last week and I decided to switch carriers. Turned out the prepaid deal was better and cheaper than the traditional one so I didn’t have to unlock anything for a credit check after all.
I didn’t pay a penny when freezing all five bureaus. I’ll find out if there’s any cost involved in unfreezing. I’ll give you an update shortly.
^ this varies by state. I had to pay $5 each.
@TiggerDad --as @OHMomof2 said, this varies by state. I believe that victims of identify theft are eligible to freeze credit free of charge.
Okay, just went through all five bureaus in unfreezing. Only TransUnion charged me $10, all else free. Again, the online experience with Equifax was the worst. It’s a f*&^ing joke!
Now, another question. If, as some of you say, the cost of freezing/unfreezing is determined by each state, then why did one bureau charged me $10 while others allowed at free cost? Shouldn’t either ALL bureaus charge or don’t charge uniformly?
The states set the MAX that any of the bureaus can charge–there is no minimum charge, so the bureaus can opt NOT to charge on their own. When I placed the freezes, we were each charged $5 by Experian and $5 by Transunion and nothing by the other credit bureaus. Our state allows charges up to $5 per bureau for freezes and thaws.
Thanks for the explanation.
Both H and I got letters yesterday from Equifax. Just spent about an hour freezing my credit with all 5. Taking a break and will start on H’s.
We bought two new cars within the last year and refinanced our mortgage a few months ago so won’t need any credit checks for a good long while.
All 5 were free, plus TrustedID Premier is free, too. Need to wait for email to proceed with that and both Innovis and ChexSystems will send pin in mail.
So last night the Senate voted (it won by one, the VP had to break the tie) to block a consumer law that allowed class action suits against banks and CC companies.
How does this pertain to this breach?
^Class actions suits will now not be able to be filled against Equifax.
Of course, one can always file suit individually, but hardly anyone does that because they cannot afford to. This bill effectively gives banks and CC companies free hand to screw over their customers (like Wells Fargo did) with no repercussions.
Watch who you vote for and who’s bought by wall street lobbyists. They’ll quickly tear down any regulations that were in place to protect US the customers.
I think think the law prevented banks from prohibiting consumers from filing class actions. Equifax already agreed to allow class action suits for people who use their monitoring software, so I don’t think this affects them.
It’s not clear to me that this law affects Equifax anyway, they are neither a bank or a CC company, and generally individuals do not do business directly with them, so how could they prevent it? For example, I have never signed an agreement with Equifax. How can they force me into arbitration?
Consumer Bureau Loses Fight to Allow More Class-Action Suits
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/business/senate-vote-wall-street-regulation.html
This article specifically mentions the legislating benefiting Equifax.
“Tonight’s vote is a giant setback for every consumer in this country,” Richard Cordray, the director of the consumer bureau, said in a statement. “As a result, companies like Wells Fargo and Equifax remain free to break the law without fear of legal blowback from their customers.”
It’s a nice soundbite, but, again, how exactly does Equifax stop me and 143 million others from suing them?
Wells Fargo committed fraud (and maybe other crimes) against their customers by opening bogus accounts and what-not. What laws did Equifax break? Is there a law against having poor computer security?
I don’t know but I trust the head of the Consumer Protection bureau to know what he is talking about.
It doesn’t stop you as an individual from suing. It stops class action lawsuits.