What is a "credit freeze"?
Credit freezes are probably the holy grail of security. I think it's a great thing to get a credit freeze. Unfortunately, credit freezes are state initiatives, opposed to a federal initiative. Right now, to this date, only maybe half of the United States, in certain states, you have the option to get a credit freeze.A credit freeze is, essentially, when your credit is frozen. Right now, the system of credit is wide open, which means that at any given time, anybody who accesses your Social Security and poses as you can get credit under your name, because your credit is wide open. Credit is no different than having a big sign on the front of you home saying, "The door is wide open. Come in and take everything." Credit is wide open. And so a credit freeze locks, or freezes, your credit; it makes it virtually impossible for someone to open accounts under your name where credit is required.So for example, with credit cards, if you have a credit card, and there's information regarding your credit, you can actually call the credit bureaus and you can tell them to flag your credit for a period of time. They will freeze your credit for about 9 days. Now, that makes it very difficult for somebody to actually open up additional accounts under your name. A credit freeze locks and freezes your credit until you actually thaw it.
