Credit Freeze vs. Credit Lock: What Each One Blocks

Credit freeze vs credit lock comes down to this: both stop most lenders from pulling your credit report to open new accounts, but a freeze is a right under federal law (free, with legal deadlines for placing and lifting it), while a lock is a product the credit bureau offers under its own terms of service, sometimes free and sometimes bundled into a paid subscription. The CFPB doesn’t mince words here: credit locks “are no more effective than security freezes, which are free and which you have a right to by law” (CFPB on credit freezes).

For most people, that settles it. But “what each one blocks” has some real surprises in it, and if you’re a landlord or lender, frozen files are something you’ll run into whether you like it or not.

Credit freeze vs credit lock, side by side

On paper, the lock’s big advantage is convenience: toggle it in an app. In practice, the bureaus’ freeze tools are now mostly online and fast too, which has erased much of that gap.

What a freeze blocks

When your file is frozen, a credit bureau generally can’t release your report to a new creditor who’s deciding whether to open an account for you. That’s the main event. A thief with your Social Security number tries to open a card or finance a phone in your name, the lender can’t see your file, and the application stalls.

That’s also why a frozen file is the single most effective thing you can do against new-account fraud and synthetic identity fraud built on your SSN. Most new lenders won’t approve credit they can’t check.

What a freeze doesn’t block

This is the part people miss. The federal freeze law lists exceptions (15 U.S.C. § 1681c-1(i)(4)). Under that list, the freeze requirement doesn’t apply to reports used for:

• Your existing creditors reviewing or collecting on accounts you already have, including things like credit line increases.
• Collection agencies and government agencies acting under a court order, subpoena or warrant, child support agencies, and certain federal and state agencies doing things like collecting taxes or investigating fraud.
• Prescreened offers under the FCRA’s prescreening section.
• Credit monitoring services you’ve signed up for.
• You. You can always get your own report.
• Insurance underwriting.
• Employment, tenant or background screening.
• Identity verification for purposes other than granting credit, and fraud prevention.

A few of those deserve a second look.

Tenant screening is on the list. The federal statute doesn’t require the bureau to apply your freeze to tenant screening, and the CFPB says the same thing in plain English. In practice it depends on the product. Some screening reports still come through. Others, including ours, come back with a note that the file is frozen. If you’re apartment hunting, don’t assume either way. Ask the landlord, and lift your freeze if needed.

Prescreened offers can keep coming. If what you want is fewer “You’re pre-approved!” envelopes, a freeze isn’t the tool. Opting out of prescreened offers is a separate step, and we walk through it in how to opt out of prescreened credit offers.

Your existing accounts are still exposed to account takeover. A freeze stops new credit. It does nothing if someone gets into an account you already have, often by stealing your phone number first. That’s why we keep telling people to put a port-out PIN on their mobile account, too. See SIM swap and port-out fraud.

What a lock blocks

Functionally, a lock blocks roughly the same thing: new creditors pulling your report. The difference is the legal footing. A lock’s coverage, timing and exceptions come from the bureau’s terms, not from the statute. If a bureau fails to place your freeze on time, it’s violated federal law. If its lock doesn’t work as advertised, your remedy runs through its terms and general consumer protection law.

That’s not hypothetical. In October 2023, the CFPB ordered TransUnion and two affiliates to pay $3 million in redress and a $5 million penalty after finding they failed to promptly place or remove both security freezes and locks, and in some cases told consumers their requests had worked when they hadn’t (CFPB enforcement action). Whatever tool you use, check that it actually took.

Locks also tend to be the front door to an upsell. Read what you’re agreeing to. If the free lock requires accepting marketing or enrolling in something else, the free freeze is the cleaner choice.

Which one should you use?

Our honest take, for most people: freeze all three bureaus and leave the freezes on. Lift one temporarily when you apply for something. With online freeze tools, a temporary lift takes minutes and can be set to expire by itself.

A lock can make sense if you’re already paying for a bureau’s monitoring service that includes one and you like the app. Even then, plenty of people use both: a freeze for the legal guarantee, the app for monitoring.

A few specific cases:

• You’re about to rent, finance a car or apply for a mortgage. Ask which bureau they use and lift that freeze for a week or two. Mortgage lenders typically pull all three, so lift all three.
• You’ve been through a data breach. Freeze now. Don’t wait to find out if your data was used.
• You have kids. Federal law lets a parent or guardian freeze a credit file for a child under 16, and the bureau will create a file just to freeze it if none exists. Kids’ SSNs are prized by fraudsters because nobody checks them for years.
• You’re managing a parent’s finances. Older adults who aren’t applying for new credit are good candidates for a permanent freeze.
• You just want to see who’s been looking. That’s a different question, answered by your free reports at AnnualCreditReport.com. Our guide to finding out who checked your credit explains what each inquiry means.

If you’re a landlord, lender or business on the other side

You’ll see this more and more. When a file is frozen, our lookup doesn’t return a score. Instead, it tells you the file is frozen, so you know it’s not a lookup error and not a thin or missing credit file. Our how it works page lists the reasons a lookup might not return a score.

How to handle it:

1. Don’t read anything into it. A freeze is a sign of a careful person, not a hidden problem. Lots of people froze after one of the big breaches and forgot.
2. Tell them exactly what you need. “Your TransUnion file is frozen. Can you lift it for a day? It takes a few minutes online.” Name the bureau. People often don’t know which one to unfreeze.
3. Run it again after they confirm. The law requires online and phone lifts to take effect within an hour, and they’re often faster.
4. Keep your permissible purpose straight. Their OK to check is still what makes the lookup legitimate. The fact that they lifted the freeze for you is good evidence they agreed, but get the consent in writing anyway. Our explainer on permissible purpose under the FCRA covers the basics.

Every lookup we run is a soft pull, so it doesn’t affect the person’s score, and they aren’t notified. Soft pull or not, a freeze on their TransUnion file stops our lookup until they lift it. If you want the longer comparison, here’s soft pull vs. hard pull.

And if an applicant flatly refuses to lift a freeze? That’s their right. It’s also your right to require a credit check as part of your process, applied the same way to everyone. Offer an alternative if your policy has one (a larger deposit, a guarantor), and move on. Our compliance page has the plain-English version of the rules on our side. None of this is legal advice, just how we’ve seen it work.

How to place a freeze (the five-minute version)

1. Go to each bureau’s official freeze page: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The CFPB links to all three from its freeze guide.
2. Create an account or verify your identity.
3. Place the freeze. Save any PIN or login you’re given somewhere safe, like a password manager.
4. Watch for confirmation. The law requires written confirmation within five business days.
5. When you need credit, lift the freeze at the bureau the lender uses, with an end date if you can set one.

Write down which email address you used for each bureau’s freeze account. Three years from now, when you’re trying to lift a freeze in a car dealer’s finance office, that note will be worth more than anything in this article.