Security Freeze and CLI's

[Anonymous]

To answer your question, if you request a CLI they can pull a hard inquiry. It happend to me recently. Most times when requesting CLI's there were no hard pulls. However, I requested one for my Kohls card and it was a hard inquiry. A freeze only prevents new credit inquiries. It does not prevent creditors that you have an established relationship with to pull a hard inquiry.  

[Cory]

Normally a freeze would deny even your current credit card issuer the right to retrieve a full credit report/hard pull. I have a freeze on all of my reports, and the other day I applied for an increase for my BOFA and AMEX cards and both Loan Specialist informed me that they can not approve me for the increase due to a freeze. So I guess it depends on what the lender is trying to initiate, a hard inquiry or a soft inquiry. But a freeze will indeed stop you from getting approved for new credit, and inquiries with current credit card holders in most cases.

Cory

[Anonymous]

I also have all of my reports frozen. I'm not sure about your experiences. However, AMEX has always been able to pull my credit report. So has every creditor I have a relationship with that appears on my credit report. The only creditor to date I have received a message from stating they were unable to pull my report due to it being frozen was BML. However, BML does not appear on my report.  

[LilloEsquilo]

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@MarineVietVet wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

They might drop off, but a freeze will keep me from replacing them with new ones

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Not that I'm accusing you of anything in particular but just a friendly reminder to everyone to review the Forum's Terms of Service and Credit Repair Discussion Guidelines that say, among other things:

Discussion of illegal or unethical activities or providing links to other websites containing such information;

The only credit repair discussions allowed in FICO Forums are ones that exchange information on how to correct or remove real errors from your credit report – not accurate information that you want to get rid of because it may be negatively affecting your credit score.

Purposely attempting to keep accurate inquiries from being reported by freezing a report is a violation of both of these.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

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Ok, I'm confused as to how letting inquiries drop off your report over time, as they will whether you freeze your credit or not, it has nothing to do with it, is unethical? It's YOUR system, man, and it works that way because YOU guys set that up that way, so him thinking that somehow freezing his credit is affecting the normal drop off is somehow evil?

I don't get that line of reasoning anymore than I get his thinking that freezing his credit has anything to do with it.

Just for the record, I'm planning to let my inquiries drop off normally with time too. I think all of us are. I hope we won't be banned for that.

[anybodii]

Agreed.

[Anonymous]

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@LilloEsquilo wrote:

I don't get that line of reasoning anymore than I get his thinking that freezing his credit has anything to do with it.

Just for the record, I'm planning to let my inquiries drop off normally with time too. I think all of us are. I hope we won't be banned for that.

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I am aware that freezing does not impact how quickly or slowly inquiries fall off. I just wanted to do this to help disuade myself from applying for anything for a little while and also so that I could request some CLI's without worrying about taking a hard. If I get denied for a CLI because they cant pull a hard then so be it, I'd rather not have the CLI at the moment. As for the unethical behavior... yea... not really too sure where he got that from.

[doublespaces]

Honestly, even if I did put a freeze on my accounts and applied for a CLI, that doesn't make me an unethical person at all. My impression is that CLI's can be done automatically based off internal information without requiring any CR pull so just because I freeze them and hope they don't require any credit report info does not make me unethical. Its just as unethical as a company doing a hard inquiriy for a product change. They don't need to but they do sometimes, it hurts us and we deal with it.

Also, if I were to freeze two of my reports and force Amex to pull my TU instead of EX, I don't see how that would be unethical either. Its my score, its a legitimate score and just because you want to see EX doesn't mean you have the right to see it when I've placed a freeze on it to intentionally protect it from unwanted inquiries. If the score is mine its much like choosing which car I want to drive and put wear and tear on. If I don't want to put miles on my Ferrari then I'm going to keep it in the garage and there is nothing wrong with that! Allowing them to see my credit report even if it is persuaded in one direction is not unethical. If they did not want to accept my TU score for approval, then they shouldn't pull it! Just because there are three scores, does not mean they have the right to look at them all. In fact, why don't they check the 3 FAKOs not to mention my Auto Enhanced scores while they are at it?

If I was selling my house and I refused to let the prospective buyer see my bedroom because it was messy, then they should take it for what its worth. If they buy it anyway then they are accepting that risk. Attempting to sell the house without being willing to show them my bedroom does NOT make me an unethical person. If they asked me why I blocked my CR I would tell them, "Because you can't see it". There is nothing misleading or unethical about this. The online forms likely do not ask for this that I'm aware of but I would have no problem explaining this to them should they ask.

[mxp114]

Confused, so freezing your credit report delays inquiries from falling off? Isn't it 24 months for them to fall off and six months where they no longer impact your score? Thanks.

[fused]

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@mxp114 wrote:

Confused, so freezing your credit report delays inquiries from falling off? Isn't it 24 months for them to fall off and six months where they no longer impact your score? Thanks.

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No!

Inqs can stay on your reports for up to two years; however, they only have an impact on FICO scores for up to one year.

[mxp114]

Good, thanks. I just froze mine and didn't want them staying longer because I did a freeze.