How to Lift a Credit Freeze for Your Mortgage Application
A credit freeze is a smart identity theft protection measure. You'll need to lift it temporarily when applying for a mortgage.
Jump to How to Lift a Credit FreezeWhy a Credit Freeze Is a Good Idea
A credit freeze is a wise identity theft protection measure that prevents anyone from applying for credit in your name. When your credit is frozen, lenders and creditors cannot access your credit report, which prevents fraudulent applications before they start.
Good news for mortgage applicants: A mortgage lender will in most cases just need to pull your credit once on the day of your credit pull, so lifting the freeze for just one day is all that's needed.
All three credit bureaus allow you to "thaw for one day" or "lift freeze until tomorrow," making it easy to accommodate your lender's needs while maintaining your security.
Why Does a Mortgage Lender Need a Credit Pull?
Mortgage lenders pull a tri-merged credit report for any conventional, FHA, VA, or USDA mortgage. This report combines data from all three major credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion - to give lenders a complete picture of your credit history.
Important: Because the tri-merged report pulls from all three bureaus, credit freezes on all three credit bureaus will need to be lifted for your mortgage application.
How to Lift a Credit Freeze
Here's how to lift the freeze on the three credit repositories:
Equifax
A credit freeze can be added, temporarily lifted, or permanently removed by creating an account on myEquifax. This account is a one-stop shop to monitor the status of your credit report.
How to contact Equifax:
One-Day Lift:
You can "temporarily lift a freeze" from today until tomorrow.
Experian
Experian guides its customers to use its online Freeze Center to make changes to their credit file. A credit freeze can also be lifted by phone or mail. Besides offering temporary and permanent lifts, Experian also offers a one-time PIN that can be provided to a single company or creditor. That way, the company can check your credit without your having to ask for a credit freeze lift.
Important note: When changing the status of your credit freeze, Experian requires the PIN that it originally provided you when instituting the credit freeze. You'll need it no matter which method of contact is used.
How to contact Experian:
Phone:
1-888-397-3742Mail:
Experian Security Freeze
P.O. Box 9554
Allen, TX 75013
Website:
experian.com/freeze/center.htmlOne-Day Thaw:
You can "Schedule a thaw" from today until tomorrow.
TransUnion
TransUnion offers customers an online account to make changes to a credit freeze. You can also make changes through TransUnion's mobile app, myTransUnion.
TransUnion allows you to schedule a credit freeze lift up to 15 days in advance. This scheduled lift differs from Experian's single-use PIN in that it allows any creditor access to the credit report over the period of time that you choose.
A PIN is not required when you use the online account or myTransUnion mobile app, but it is required if you're making the request via phone.
How to contact TransUnion:
Phone:
1-888-909-8872Mail:
TransUnion
P.O. Box 160
Woodlyn, PA 19094
Website:
transunion.com/credit-freezeOne-Day Lift:
You can "temporarily lift a freeze" from today until tomorrow.
Contact
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