How to Place a Security Freeze to Help Protect Your Home Title
A security freeze, also known as a credit freeze, is one of the most powerful and effective tools you have to protect yourself from identity theft. While it doesn’t directly monitor your home’s title, it creates a critical roadblock for criminals, making it much harder for them to profit from title fraud.
This guide explains what a credit freeze is and how to put one in place.
What is a Credit Freeze?
A credit freeze is a free service that restricts access to your credit report. When your credit is frozen, new creditors cannot access your credit file to evaluate your creditworthiness. This means that if an identity thief tries to open a new line of credit in your name—such as a new credit card, an auto loan, or a fraudulent mortgage against your home—the application will almost certainly be denied because the lender cannot check their credit.
How Does a Credit Freeze Help Prevent Title Fraud?
A credit freeze provides an indirect but powerful layer of protection against title fraud. One of the main ways criminals profit from stealing your title is by taking out a large mortgage or Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) against your property. To approve these loans, lenders must perform a credit check. With a freeze in place, that credit check is blocked, and the loan application is stopped dead in its tracks.
How to Place a Credit Freeze
Placing a freeze is simple, free, and you must do it with each of the three major credit bureaus individually.
You can place a freeze online, by phone, or by mail. The online method is the fastest and easiest. Here are the links to each bureau’s security freeze page:
- Equifax: Equifax Security Freeze
- Experian: Experian Security Freeze
- TransUnion: TransUnion Security Freeze
When you place the freeze, you will create an account and a PIN. Keep this PIN in a safe place, as you will need it to temporarily “thaw” or permanently remove the freeze if you need to apply for new credit yourself.
Is a Credit Freeze Enough?
No. A credit freeze does not prevent a thief from filing a forged deed and changing the ownership of your home on paper. It only prevents them from monetizing that theft through new credit. It also does not protect against existing account takeovers.
Why You Need Both a Credit Freeze and DomiDocs
The most effective asset protection strategy involves multiple layers. A credit freeze and DomiDocs title monitoring are two essential layers that work together to provide comprehensive security.
- A Credit Freeze protects your identity and your credit score, making it harder for criminals to profit.
- DomiDocs Title Monitoring protects the title itself. It’s the only service that directly monitors the public records and alerts you if a fraudulent deed is filed.
Think of it this way: the credit freeze protects you from the financial consequences, while DomiDocs protects the legal ownership of the asset itself. Using both provides the ultimate peace of mind that your home and identity are secure from all angles.
HomeLock™ is the one Property Fraud Protection service that CAN notify you before, during, and immediately after fraud occurs. If more homeowners had HomeLock™, we wouldn’t see so many scammers like this husband and wife who have defrauded dozens of homeowners!
See how DomiDocs and HomeLock™ can protect your home in this Press Release! This layered approach protects both your legal ownership and your financial identity. For more information, read our article on how HomeLock™ can protect you from Title and Deed Fraud.