Originally Posted by
Happy
Exactly.
Unless one is paranoid about ID theft, freezing the credit report for no particular reason creates far more trouble than its worth.
Banks don't pull a different agency's report when the one they pull is not available due to being frozen. It is a Fool's game to think about freezing an agency's report would "force" the bank to pull a different agency's report... Think about it for a second, it is YOU who ask the bank to extend credit, not the bank to Solicit you for extend credit. Why would the bank do something extra that would be out of their normal operational procedure?
The above is correct.
However, I have a consumer freeze on all 3 CRA's. Why wouldn't you do this? It's the best safeguard known to man at this time, and free in many states.
I had two insurance co's mishandle my personal data in the last 5 yrs. I sued them both.
I applied for the AA 75K Citi Visa. Called Citi and asked them what CRA they pull. Unfroze Equifax for 3 days over the phone and paid the $10 fee. (CRA's give you a dedicated freeze hotline number)
Told Citi they had 3 days to pull credit. Got approved and the freeze auto reinstated.
Simple.
Card Issuer: Citi
Card Type: AA 75k offer
City and State: Oregon
Approx Inquiry Date: 9.20.10
Credit Agency: Equifax
Credit Score: Won't pay for that, but above 720 and that's all that matters.