How soon after applying for a loan can I freeze my credit?

[BR1]

I got a car loan through Toyota Motor Credit Corporation (TMCC) Monday 4/7 that hasn't shown up on my credit reports. The hard inquiry (which is on my credit report) occurred on 4/7 and I have possession of the car. Am I ok to freeze my credit or could this cause issues with the loan processing? I obviously assume the loan was approved since I have the car, but haven't received loan number / payment details in the mail yet and don't want to cause any issues with everything finalizing. 

[omgitsMatt]

You can freeze immediately, if you like. They got their HP, the won't need to do it again.

[BR1]

Thank you, so freezing the credit only prevents a HP and not them placing the loan I applied for on my credit file/processing it on their end?

[omgitsMatt]

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@BR1 wrote:

Thank you, so freezing the credit only prevents a HP and not them placing the loan I applied for on my credit file/processing it on their end?

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Correct, the loan will show up soon. The freeze will only prevent future HPs.

Bear in mind, freezing won't prevent current/active lenders you have accounts with from soft pull account reviews, it only prevents HPs

[omgitsMatt]

You didn't ask, but I like to freeze for three reasons.

It makes me consider an application in the time it takes to research which bureau to unfreeze, several times I saved a HP/new account ding from slowing myself down like that. Wish I would have started doing that sooner.

It's nice to apply for credit limit increases knowing that if a lender wants to HP, instead of soft pull, they can't.

If I do apply for credit, I'll freeze immediately afterwards and try to get a limit reconsideration for something better. Most usually use your first HP, some don't though. This prevent those that don't from double dipping on HPs.

I guess security would be an obvious reason too.

[Varsity_Lu]

@BR1 

Every lender is a little different in how they report. For example, hard pulls show up pretty quickly (within a day or so), but new accounts can vary. My Capital One accounts showed up on my reports within a few weeks, but my AmEx accounts took several months to show up. I got the AmEx Hilton card in November but it didn't show up on any of my reports until March.

[Varsity_Lu]

@BR1 

To answer your freeze question, once they approve the loan/account, freeze those suckers. Don't let them get pulled again. If they need more info, you can always unfreeze them, but don't leave them open.

[Horseshoez]

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@BR1 wrote:

I got a car loan through Toyota Motor Credit Corporation (TMCC) Monday 4/7 that hasn't shown up on my credit reports. The hard inquiry (which is on my credit report) occurred on 4/7 and I have possession of the car. Am I ok to freeze my credit or could this cause issues with the loan processing? I obviously assume the loan was approved since I have the car, but haven't received loan number / payment details in the mail yet and don't want to cause any issues with everything finalizing. 

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I bought a new Tacoma back in the fall of 2022 and unfroze my reports just before my sales associate took my application to finance.  As soon as he came back with the approval from Toyota Financial, I refroze them; I think they were unfrozen for all of about 20 minutes.

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@BR1 wrote:

I got a car loan through Toyota Motor Credit Corporation (TMCC) Monday 4/7 that hasn't shown up on my credit reports. The hard inquiry (which is on my credit report) occurred on 4/7 and I have possession of the car. Am I ok to freeze my credit or could this cause issues with the loan processing?

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You are all set. Go ahead and re-freeze.