Disclaimer: although I am stating to be an employee of a major CRA, these thoughts are my own, and do not represent the official stance of the respective CRA that I work for. Also, I will not be stating which I work for.
This is a long post. There is a tl;dr, but you will miss important information if you rely solely on it.
Unless you've been living under a rock the last few days, you're more than likely aware of the major breach one of the main bureaus faced in July. As a result of this breach, some are wondering exactly what they are able to do, and recommendations to freeze credit are showing up.
While I'm not going to say you shouldn't freeze your credit, I will say that you should do so only after researching what it might entail. As an employee at one of the big three (technically four, poor Innovis) CRAs, I can say firsthand that the freezes can take some time to process should you ever need to unfreeze (a.k.a. thaw) them.
Full disclosure, I do not work in the freeze department. Rather, I work in technical support for businesses. But that doesn't mean I'm not exempt from encountering the individual who got the wrong number, or more importantly and pressing to this issue, the bank/credit union/car dealership/jeweler/bail bonding company that just tried (and failed) to pull your recently unfrozen credit line
To unfreeze one's credit can take time. The general recommendation is a three day wait, as that seems to be the maximum across the states. That is to say, the amount of time it takes for an unfreeze to process is not dependent on the bureau, but on the state. As a result, if you are able to use an Access Code (or Bypass Code), this would be recommended if you were unable to plan for the credit check three days in advance. These codes typically work a lot smoother anyways, and can also mean that you are only granting access to your credit for the one company you're wanting. A word to the wise though, check with the company you're wanting to have pull your credit. There will be a line on the form they're submitting called Access Code, Bypass Code, or Security Bypass Code if they are able to use one. IF they are not, the bypass code will be useless.
Regardless of which sounds better to you, I implore you all to research heavily first. Credit is important, and I personally would hate to see a comment chain of blame where someone froze their credit per recommendation of a half-assed comment and now they are sitting at a dealership trying (and failing) to get their new car.
Sources:
My mind/experience
http://ift.tt/2wNTpjU (http://ift.tt/KL35zX)
Tl;dr don't just freeze your credit without informing yourself. Maybe a bypass code would be better. Maybe reading this post in full would be best.
