Question about security freeze

Anonymous · ‎12-17-2015

I went on a wild app spree and ran up 69 inquiries over 3 months. Out of fear that Synchrony, Valero and Capital One could close my accounts, I chose to freeze my accounts for the next 2 years until they drop off. Did I make a wise decision and will my credit score still rise while their frozen?

Anonymous · ‎12-17-2015

I should probably clarify that I froze access to my credit reports. I guess I can kiss credit limit increases goodbye.

Anonymous · ‎12-17-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
I should probably clarify that I froze access to my credit reports. I guess I can kiss credit limit increases goodbye.

You can still get CLIs while your reports are frozen. As for whether your scores will rise that really has nothing to with your reports being frozen. After a year the inquiries will no longer affect your Fico scores and your use and payment of your credit accounts will have the biggest impact on your scores. Fico scores don't take into account whether your reports are frozen or not.

CH-7-Mission-Accomplished · ‎12-17-2015

Also you do know that those creditors can still see your inquiries through a freeze, right? They can soft pull you al they want and can see the same stuff as they can with a hard pull. So if the freeze was meant to keep them from seeing your inquiries, it won't work.

It will likely help your score because it takes extra effort to unfreeze your reports and it costs you $10 each time per CRA to unfreeze, so you may app less often for stuff you don't need. It helps to limit some impulsive apping behavior.

Anonymous · ‎12-17-2015

Well i don't have any late payments or charge off's. I just tried too quickly to gain credit and i don't want my current creditors to pull my reports down the road and close my accounts because they feel like im needy. I have an annual income of 47,000 with 6 credit cards. Kohl's $300, Capital One secured $250, Walmart $300, Belk's $200, Old Navy $300 and a Valero Gas card for $500. I was under the impression that accounts can be closed for too many inquiries.

CH-7-Mission-Accomplished · ‎12-17-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
Well i don't have any late payments or charge off's. I just tried too quickly to gain credit and i don't want my current creditors to pull my reports down the road and close my accounts because they feel like im needy. I have an annual income of 47,000 with 6 credit cards. Kohl's $300, Capital One secured $250, Walmart $300, Belk's $200, Old Navy $300 and a Valero Gas card for $500. I was under the impression that accounts can be closed for too many inquiries.

Yes, they can close for too many inquiries, but that normally doesn't happen. They usually decline you for new credit if they think you have too many inquiries.

I just wanted you to know that with your reports frozen, they still have full access to them and will review your credit regularly. Frozen reports only stop people issuing you NEW credit from accessing reports to grant you NEW credit. Existing creditors have a permissible purpose to see your reports and routinely monitor.

You should be fine. Just let your inquiries age off.

takeshi74 · ‎12-18-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
Out of fear that Synchrony, Valero and Capital One could close my accounts, I chose to freeze my accounts for the next 2 years until they drop off.

A freeze won't prevent AA if they decide to do so. It will only prevent hard pulls of your reports -- i.e. when applying for new credit or CLI's that require a hard pull.

@Anonymous wrote:
Did I make a wise decision and will my credit score still rise while their frozen?

If a freeze is what you need to prevent yourself from continuing to app then it may be wise decision but you may want to address whatever it is that is causing you to app like that. To say that 69 in 3 months is a lot is a MASSIVE understatement.

As for your score, that's the least of your concerns at this point. Your score isn't prevented from changing by a freeze. Additions to your report are not the only changes with a scoring impact. How your score changes will all depend on how the data in your reports change.

@Anonymous wrote:
I should probably clarify that I froze access to my credit reports. I guess I can kiss credit limit increases goodbye.

The freeze will only impact CLI's that require a hard pull. Again, CLI's are the least of your worries at this point. Address the reason why you incurred 69 hard pulls in that timeframe.

@Anonymous wrote:
I just tried too quickly to gain credit and i don't want my current creditors to pull my reports down the road and close my accounts because they feel like im needy.

Too late for that and a freeze does not prevent them from soft pulling your reports for reviews.

@Anonymous wrote:
Kohl's $300, Capital One secured $250, Walmart $300, Belk's $200, Old Navy $300 and a Valero Gas card for $500. I was under the impression that accounts can be closed for too many inquiries.

Accounts can be closed for risky activty that exceeds a creditor's risk tolerance. It's not just a matter of inquiries though 69 will be a red flag. Whether or not they'll lead to AA, I have no idea for your creditors.

The limits you stated indicate to me that your credit profile will only support a small amount of credit seeking activity, if any. HP's are generally a small factor but for a profile like yours a few inquiries are probably the most that can be handled. With limits like that you need to carefully manage your existing cards. If you're above 2-3 cards you don't need more cards for scoring purposes. You need to consider what's limiting your credit profile and work on those factors. We can help with that but you have to be willing to share enough information to give us a better idea of your profile. Definitely ask before spreeing if you need to.

Anonymous · ‎12-18-2015

With those very low credit limits, don't sweat it. You could rack up another dozen+ inquries and I highly doubt any of those creditors would pay any mind, whatsoever.

Use your Capital One card frequently, pay all cards on time (even one late can be very damaging; more so than inquiries and utilization), and its limit should grow / go unsecured.

Freezing your credit reports is good security, but as already pointed out, doesn't stop current creditors from accessing them. When applying for new cards, you will near certainly need to temporarily unfreeze.

Also, changing car / auto insurance carriers, or even changing coverages with a current carrier, may also necessitate thawing your reports temporarily - not a biggie, but an extra step to be prepared for. And likewise if applying for a new bank account, new utilities (otherwise may require a deposit instead), changing cell phone carriers (often even for so called no contract plans), etc. On the bright side, you'll receive less junk mail.