Lift Your Credit Freeze Before You Buy a Tradeline

A credit freeze stops new information from being added to your file at the bureau that holds it. That's exactly what it's for — and it's also why a frozen file won't accept a new authorized-user account.

A freeze or fraud alert at any of the three bureaus is the most common reason an order fails. Checking before you buy takes a few minutes and saves a wasted reporting cycle.

Freezes are placed bureau by bureau, so you may have one at a bureau you've forgotten about. Log in to Equifax, Experian and TransUnion separately and confirm each file is unfrozen, with no active fraud alert.

Placing and lifting a freeze is free at all three bureaus under federal law. You can lift a freeze temporarily for a date range instead of removing it permanently.

The bureaus match an authorized-user account to your file using your name, address, date of birth and Social Security number. If what we send doesn't match what they already hold — an old address, a nickname, a missing suffix — the account can land nowhere.

Use the name and address exactly as they appear on your current credit report when you submit your documents.

Keep the file open until the tradeline has posted. Once it shows on your report, you can re-freeze whenever you like — a freeze doesn't remove accounts that are already there.