@nytimestraveler wrote:What's the benefit of freezing and unfreezing credit reports good sir
Welcome to My FICO Forums, @nytimestraveler. 
I think your question was directed at member JasonMath above, but your posting wasn't specific. As an FYI, there are a couple of ways to keep the threads less complicated to follow and to understand who is replying to whom. If a response or question to a specific posting in-thread, hit the REPLY button below that specific message and once in the reply panel, select "QUOTE" button in upper right. That will insert the text of that message (like I did yours above) and then you can type your reply or question. Or ... use the "@" sign. That "tags" a member (like I tagged you above) and sends a message to that member that they were tagged. If you type the @, it opens a dialogue box where you can select recent participants to that message thread. Of if you start typing a user name, it will search for other members, including those who didn't participate in that thread.
To answer your question, a lot of our members keep their credit reports frozen as a fraud prevention measure. It keeps identity theft fraudsters from opening credit in your name. They will unfreeze as needed when they apply for new credit. It also keeps credit from being hard-pulled without your permission if applying for a new card or a credit limit increase. We've had cases where a member expected only a "soft" pull but got a HP inquiry. Some members will freeze their reports in an attempt to keep a lender from pulling a certain report, perhaps one that has different or adverse information. However, most lenders pull certain reports in certain states and they may just deny the application if they cannot pull the report they desire.
@nytimestraveler wrote:I am absolutely new to credit. Thank you, I found your reply useful because I just had a PM broker hard pull my report without my permission. I'm looking for ways to remove their inquiry because they never mentioned even doing any checks, it was premature for them to do so, I did not authorize them nor did they even mention it. I will definitely look into how to freeze my credit and have more control over how it's handled. I just got my third card, which is the Chase Sapphire and I am looking to cool down on apply for any credit until the next card or loan..
Best Regards,NY
Glad to help, @nytimestraveler.
So, what were you referring to with "PM" Broker? I'm not familiar with that term. Is is Portfolio Management or Property Management, perhaps? I would verify that you didn't, in some way with authorization in fine print, authorize the HP. Barring that, you can submit a letter to contest the HP with the credit bureau where it was pulled if you want to take the time to do so. While the HP remains on the report for two years, it will only affect FICO for 12 months and the effect of one HP is often minuscule in the grand scheme of things. It may not be worth your while. Plus, if you're not planning to apply for new credit in the interim, you could just allow it to fall off the report. But yes, freezing the reports is a great way to prevent that from happening!