How to freeze a child's credit

Federal law lets a parent or guardian place a security freeze for a child who is under 16 when the request is made. The law calls the child a protected consumer and the adult acting for the child the child's representative. Each of the three nationwide credit bureaus must place the freeze, and later remove it, free of charge. The same rule covers an adult for whom a court has appointed a guardian or conservator.

Why freeze a file that may not exist

The FTC says a child under 18 generally will not have a credit report. If a bureau has no file for the child when you ask, the law requires it to create a record for the child, so the freeze has something to hold. That record may not be used to judge the child's credit or character. While the freeze is in place, the bureau is barred from releasing the child's report, anything drawn from it, or the record. The FTC's point is practical: a freeze makes it harder for someone to open new accounts in your child's name.

What the bureau will ask you for

The law asks for two kinds of proof, for you and for the child.

Proof of identification, such as:

• a Social Security number or a copy of a Social Security card;
• a certified or official copy of a birth certificate;
• a copy of a driver's license or other government-issued ID.

Proof of authority to act for the child, such as:

• a court order;
• a valid power of attorney;
• a document from a government agency showing parentage, including a birth certificate;
• for a child in foster care, a written certification from the county welfare or probation department.

The FTC notes that a guardian who is not the child's parent may need documents that prove legal guardianship.

How to place it

Contact each of the three bureaus; a freeze at one does not reach the others. The CFPB's list of consumer reporting companies has how to reach each one.

• Asked by toll-free phone or a secure online request, the bureau must place the freeze within one business day of receiving it.
• By mail, within three business days.
• Within five business days after placing it, the bureau must send you a confirmation and explain how the freeze can be removed.

How to lift it

The freeze stays in place until someone with the right to remove it asks. That is you, as the child's representative, or the child once the child is 16 or older. The FTC adds that minors who are 16 or 17 may request and remove a freeze themselves. A removal is free, and the bureau must make it within one hour of a phone or online request, or three business days of a mailed one. You can also lift it for a set period, for example before the child applies for a first credit card or a student loan, and let it return.

When it makes sense

You do not need a reason; the law does not ask for one. The FTC names signs that someone may already be using a child's information:

• someone contacts you about an overdue bill in the child's name, on an account you never opened;
• the child is denied government benefits because someone else is using the child's Social Security number for them;
• the IRS sends a letter about unpaid income taxes for the child;
• the child is denied a student loan because of bad credit.

If you see one, the FTC lists a freeze among the first steps. Then work through the identity theft recovery steps, and dispute anything on a file that should not be there.

Your own file

A freeze for yourself works the same way under its own rules; see how to freeze your credit.