Consumers Have a New Tool to Protect Themselves from Identity Theft

Twenty-five states have enacted laws that give consumers the right and ability to freeze their credit reports. Five states provide this option only for identity theft victims. Those states require documentation from law enforcement to prove identity theft has taken place. Twenty states have made this tool available to all consumers.

The Credit Report Freeze method prevents lenders from running your credit report or score, which in turn stops thieves from opening an account in your name. There is a downside to this method of securing your identity information. It will be more difficult for you to open a new bank account, credit card or apply for a loan when a lender is unable to run your credit report and score. The process will generally take longer, and you may have to pay a fee to the credit bureau to temporarily lift the freeze or authorize a particular creditor to access your credit report.

You can initiate a Credit Report Freeze, if you live in one of the states allowing it, by submitting a request directly to the credit reporting agencies. In order to make your credit report available once it is frozen, you must submit a request to the credit agencies to temporarily or permanently lift the freeze on your account. You may have to pay a fee to unfreeze your account and it can take up to fifteen days for your request to take effect. The ability to freeze your credit report and associated fees vary from state to state.

State	Freeze Statute	Available For	Freeze Fee per Credit Agency (Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union)	Unfreeze Fee ("Thaw"= Temporarily lift freeze)	Status
Alabama	No
Alaska	No
Arizona	No
Arkansas	Yes	Victims of ID Theft	$10	$10 to thaw or remove	Effective 1/1/08
California	Yes	All Consumers	None for Identity theft Victims, $10 All Others	$10 to thaw for a specific period, $12 to thaw for one creditor
Colorado	Yes	All Consumers	None for first freeze, $10 per additional freeze	$10 to thaw for a specific period, $12 to thaw for one creditor
Connecticut	Yes	All Consumers	$10	$10 to thaw for a specific period, $12 to thaw for one creditor
Delaware	Yes	All Consumers	$20	None
Florida	Yes	All Consumers	None for Identity theft Victims or Seniors (65+), $10 All Others	$10 to thaw or remove
Georgia	No
Hawaii	Yes	All Consumers	$5	$5
Illinois	Yes	Victims of Identity theft, After 1/1/07 All Consumers	None for Seniors (65+), $10 All Others	None for Seniors (65+), $10 for All Others to thaw or remove
Indiana	Yes	All Consumers	None	None	Effective 9/1/07
Iowa	No
Kansas	Yes	Victims of Identity theft	None	None
Kentucky	Yes	All Consumers	None for Identity theft Victims, $10 All Others. Freeze expires after 7 years.	None for Identity theft Victims, $10 to for All Others to thaw, remove or have PIN reissued.
Louisiana	Yes	All Consumers	None for Identity theft Victims and Seniors (62+), $10 All Others	None for Identity theft Victims, $8 All Others
Maine	Yes	All Consumers	None for Identity theft Victims, $10 All Others	None for Identity theft Victims, $10 for All Others to thaw, remove or have pin reissued and $12 to lift for a specific creditor
Maryland	Yes	All Consumers	None for ID Theft Victims, $5 All Others.	$5	Effective 1/1/08
Massachusetts	No
Michigan	No
Minnesota	Yes	All Consumers	None for Identity theft Victims, $5 All Others	None for Identity theft Victims, $5 to thaw, remove, have PIN reissued or lift for a specific creditor
Mississippi	No
Missouri	No
Montana	Yes	All Consumers	None for ID Theft Victims, $3 All Others	None for ID Theft Victims, None for All Others to remove and $3 for thaw.
Nebraska	Yes	All Consumers	None for ID Theft Victims, $15 All Others		Effective 9/1/08
Nevada	Yes	All Consumers	None for Identity theft Victims, $15 All Others	None for Identity theft Victims, $18 for All Others to remove and $20 for All Others to lift for a specific creditor
New Hampshire	Yes	All Consumers	None for Identity theft Victims, $10 All Others	None for Identity theft Victims, $10 All Others
New Jersey	Yes	All Consumers	None for initial freeze	Up to $5 to thaw, remove or have PIN reissued
New Mexico	Yes	All Consumers	None for ID Theft Victims and Seniors (65+), $10 All Others	None for ID Theft Victims and Seniors (65+), $5 All Others
New York	Yes	All Consumers	None for Identity theft Victims, None for initial freeze and $5 for additional freezes for All Others	None for Identity theft Victims, $5 All Others
North Carolina	Yes	All Consumers	None for Identity theft Victims, $10 All Others	None for Identity theft Victims, $10 All Others
North Dakota	Yes	All Consumers	None for ID Theft Victims, $5 All Others	None for ID Theft Victims, None for All Others to remove and $5 for thaw.
Ohio	No
Oklahoma	Yes	All Consumers	None Identity theft Victims and for Seniors (65+), $10 All Others	None for Identity theft Victims and Seniors (65+), $10 All Others
Oregon	No
Pennsylvania	Yes	All Consumers	None Identity theft Victims and for Seniors (65+), $10 All Others. Expires after 7 years.	None
Rhode Island	Yes	All Consumers	None Identity theft Victims and for Seniors (65+), $10 All Others	None for Identity theft Victims and Seniors (65+), $10 All Others
South Carolina	No
South Dakota	Yes	Victims of Identity theft	None. Freeze expires after 7 years.	None
Tennessee	Yes	All Consumers	None for ID Theft Victims, $7.50 All Others	None for ID Theft Victims, $5 for All Others to remove and no fee to thaw.	Effective 1/1/08
Texas	Yes	Victims of Identity theft	None	None
Utah	Yes	All Consumers	"Reasonable Rates"	"Reasonable Rates"	Effective 1/1/08
Vermont	Yes	All Consumers	None for Identity theft Victims, up to $10 All Others	None for Identity theft Victims, up to up to $5 All Others
Virginia	No
Washington	Yes	Victims of Identity theft	None	None
West Virginia	Yes	All Consumers	None for ID Theft Victims, up to $5 All Others	None for ID Theft Victims, up to $5 All Others
Wisconsin	Yes	All Consumers	None for Identity theft Victims, up to $10 All Others	None for Identity theft Victims, up to $10 All Others
Wyoming	Yes	All Consumers	None for ID Theft Victims, up to $10 All Others	None for ID Theft Victims, up to $10 All Others
Washington D.C.	Yes	All Consumers	None for ID Theft Victims, $10 All Others	None

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