Freezing my Kids’ Credit Bureau Files
Prompted by an article Neal sent my way, written by colleague Amy Florian, CEO of Corgenius, I embarked on the task of freezing my kids’ credit bureau files. Given this would be something we recommend all of our clients with minor children do, I wanted to do that “eating our own cooking” thing and go through the steps first for my three kiddos, in hopes I could share my experience with you and possibly pass on some useful information.
I started by going directly to the Experian website (there are three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion). I quickly found out that you must request your child’s credit report to be frozen directly with each bureau. For me, that meant nine different requests – one at each of the credit bureaus for each of my children.
Each credit bureau has its own requirements for how to request a freeze for a minor. Here’s
what I needed for each bureau:
– Experian:
o I had to create an online account for myself, first. This was very easy to do.
o With Experian I did get to see my FICO score when I logged in, which I liked.
o I was able to get fillable PDF forms to request the credit freeze for each child, which was nice since I had to provide everyone’s name, date of birth, social security number, etc. I personally prefer to type that information out rather than write it out by hand.
o I needed to provide, for each child:
§ The fillable form from the website, with each child’s information, indicating I wanted to “Place a security freeze on your child’s credit file”.
§ A copy of my driver’s license.
§ A recent copy of a utility bill, proving my address.
§ A copy of my child’s birth certificate.
§ A copy of my child’s social security card.
o This information was mailed to Experian in a Priority Envelope so I could track the package, given the sensitive information it contained.
– Equifax:
o I had to create an online account for myself here too. I did like that Equifax used a Multi-Factor Authentication method in creating my account, which Experian did not.
o You do NOT get to automatically see your credit score here, although I do think this is a free feature.
o Equifax did NOT have a fillable form. I had to print their “Minor Freeze Request Form” out for each child and fill it in by hand. It was a simple one-page form, so not a big deal, but it would have been great to have this be fillable online.
o I needed to provide, for each child:
§ Their “Minor Freeze Request Form”.
§ A copy of my driver’s license.
§ A copy of my child’s birth certificate.
§ A copy of my child’s social security card.
o Again, this information was mailed to Equifax in a Priority Envelope with tracking capabilities.
– TransUnion:
o I had to create an online account for myself with TransUnion as well. This was a bit different because I created a portal for the “TransUnion Service Center”, not for their “Member Login”, which is a paid membership. I did like that they too used a Multi-Factor Authentication method for me to create my online account.
o TransUnion does NOT give you your FICO score either, and from what I could tell, if you
wanted this, you had to pay for it.
o Instead of providing a form to make my request, TransUnion’s instructions said to type
up a letter describing my request. Thankfully I’ve typed up quite a few “Letters of Instruction” over my lifetime and easily put one together. In the letter I used the verbiage they suggested and said I was requesting a “protected consumer freeze for my minor child”. I also made note in the letter of what I was attaching, including:
§ A copy of my child’s birth certificate.
§ A copy of my driver’s license.
§ A copy of my child’s social security card.
o I made sure to date and sign the letter as well.
o Like the other two, these letters were sent (one for each child), in a Priority Envelope with tracking capabilities.
I mailed all of these requests on the 29th of July (well, Morgan in our office did – thank you Morgan!!).
On the 13th of August, I received all three confirmations from TransUnion and Experian.
Experian sent two envelopes per child – one addressed to each child, and one addressed to the child and me. The one addressed to the both of us was a letter talking about my child’s “Dispute Results”. At first this was confusing since I didn’t think that asking to freeze a credit report was a “dispute”, but the body of the letter did indicate that this was about “disputes(s) and/or other request(s) you recently submitted” (emphasis mine).
In the letters from TransUnion and Experian, we were informed that specific action needs to be taken to REMOVE the freeze from each child’s credit bureaus. So, when the time comes for the kids to actually apply for credit, we’ll have to go through some additional steps. But again, this seems like a small price to pay to avoid having your identity stolen or your credit report ruined before you even get to start really “adulting”.
On August 20th, I received the three confirmations from Equifax as well. The confirmations from Equifax also said, “the results of the dispute you recently filed with Equifax are complete”.
In the letters from Equifax, on page 3 of 4, there is a section that details “The Results of Our Reinvestigation”. This section confirms that a security freeze was placed on my minor child’s credit file and the freeze is active. But what differs from the other two bureaus is that this says, “Please be advised that the minor security freeze will remain a minor credit file until the age of 17 years and 9 months”. I take this to mean that after my child reaches that age, his or her credit file will change,
and we might need to re-instate the freeze after the child reaches that age. While
getting all of this together did take some time, especially since I had to dig for the birth certificates and social security cards, I think it was well worth it. Once I did one request for a child with one bureau, putting together the requests for the other two bureaus was much easier since the documentation needed was almost identical.
I would highly recommend doing this for any of your minor children (or grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc.). Especially given the recent news about the massive security breach at National Public Data (a background-checking company), that exposed 2.9 billion people’s data – including Social Security numbers, names, and addresses.
If I had to do it again from scratch, I would first gather the documentation I needed, then get the different forms/letters needed for each bureau, so I could be more efficient in the process.
I would still absolutely send the information via Priority Mail with tracking capability.
Please feel free to share this information with your family and friends who have minor children. The harder we make it for fraudsters to get our information, the less likely they will come knocking on our door.
Daniela Jones, CFA®, CFP®
Financial Planner & Partner
