How to check your credit reports and use a credit freeze

The short answer

Start by reading your credit reports, with your statements beside you. An unfamiliar lender name may have an ordinary explanation. An account you never opened is a different problem, and a credit freeze will not remove it from your report.

Julia sorts what she finds into three kinds. Some items only need an explanation, such as an old balance that is waiting on the lender's next update. Some are errors, such as a late payment that was actually received on time, and those get disputed. A few are accounts that were never yours, and those call for investigation and, if needed, identity-theft recovery.

A freeze is the protection that comes afterward. It restricts access to your report for new credit applications, which makes it harder for someone to open an account in your name. You do not need a paid monitoring subscription to do any of this.

Read all 3 reports first

The official source for free reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion is AnnualCreditReport.com. Free weekly access is currently available.

Check all 3 bureaus. Lenders can report to different places, and updates can arrive at different times. One clean report does not clear the other 2.

Begin with the identifying information at the top:

• Do you recognize the names listed?
• Do you recognize the addresses?

A familiar variation is probably harmless. An unfamiliar address next to an account you have never seen deserves a closer look. One strange line does not tell the whole story.

Check what looks wrong but may not be

Julia's example is a balance you have already paid. Say the report shows 180 dollars on a card with a 1,500 dollar limit. That is 12 percent of the limit. Before worrying about the percentage, check when the lender last updated the account.

Then look at the opening date, whether the account is still open, and whether your payments are marked current. If you paid after the lender's last update, the report may simply be waiting for fresh information. Compare the dates with your statements first.

A payment marked late needs more care. Find the matching records and ask:

• Was the required payment received on time?
• Was it returned?
• Did it land on the right account?

Save whatever answers those questions. If there is a mistake, those records help you explain exactly what needs correcting.

Next, look at inquiries and creditors you do not know. A lender's company name may differ from the name you recognize, so check your records. If you need to contact the lender, find its contact details independently. An unexplained inquiry is a reason to investigate. By itself, it does not prove identity theft.

Julia would do this checking even if the score in her app looked fine. The report supplies the information used to calculate a score, and different models can use it differently. A steady score does not clear an error, and a lower score does not prove there is one.

If you find an error

Dispute the specific item. Contact the bureau showing it and the company that supplied the information.

• Explain what is inaccurate.
• Send copies of the relevant records and keep your originals.
• Keep a record of when you submitted the dispute.

Investigations generally take about 30 days, and some circumstances allow longer.

If you suspect identity theft, IdentityTheft.gov can help you create a report and a recovery plan. A freeze is useful, but it will not erase a fraudulent account that is already on the report.

What a freeze does and how to manage it

A security freeze restricts access to your report for new credit applications. Lenders commonly need that access, so restricting it makes opening an account in your name more difficult.

• Place a freeze separately at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. One freeze does not automatically cover the other 2.
• Freezes are free, and temporary lifts are free too. You do not need paid monitoring or a bureau's separate "lock" product to use your legal freeze right.
• A freeze does not lower your score.
• Existing creditors and certain other users can still have permitted access.

The FTC says online or phone freeze requests must be placed within 1 business day, and lifts must happen within 1 hour. Mail requests have different timing. Even so, leave yourself some room before an application. It is easier to have the confirmation ready than to troubleshoot at a checkout counter.

When you want new credit, lift the relevant freeze for a defined period. If you do not know which bureau the lender uses, ask. You can also choose a short lift at all 3. Note the end date and confirm the protection is back afterward.

If an application stalls while your report is frozen, ask the lender whether it simply needed access. Find out which bureau to lift and how to continue that same application. Sending another application before fixing the access problem can leave you with more paperwork and the same obstacle.

A fraud alert is a different tool

A fraud alert tells lenders to take extra steps to verify your identity. For an initial alert, contact one of the 3 nationwide bureaus, and that bureau notifies the others. The initial alert lasts 1 year.

You can have an alert and a freeze together. Just do not mistake one for the other: placing an alert does not freeze your reports.

Keep each bureau's login and recovery details somewhere secure, and use different passwords along with any account-security options available to you. You want the freeze to block an impostor, and you also want to be able to manage it yourself.

Match the problem to the tool

This Wallet Check is about access and control, not a card's numerical score. Julia would want her reports accurate, her freezes working and her logins available when needed. She would also want to know which problem she was solving.

• A new application in your name: a freeze helps.
• A suspicious charge on a card you already have: call the issuer. A freeze does not stop someone using a stolen number on an existing account.
• A wrong late payment: gather records and dispute it.
• An account that was not yours: investigate, and use identity-theft recovery help if necessary.

Keep transaction alerts and account security switched on for the cards you already have. Working through the reports one at a time is a manageable place to start.

Before you act

This guide is built from Julia's script, and no card records apply to it, so there is no card-specific verification date to report. Before you act, check these points on the official pages:

• Confirm on AnnualCreditReport.com that free report access still works the way described here.
• Confirm each bureau's current steps for placing, lifting and removing a freeze.
• Check the FTC's current timing for freeze requests and the length of an initial fraud alert.
• Check IdentityTheft.gov if you suspect your identity has been used.

Procedures, timing and terms may have moved since this guide was written, so rely on the current official pages if they differ.