Identity theft can become no less than a headache to deal with if someone applies for loans, credit cards, and any other sort of credit in your name. Freezing your reports is one way to safeguard your credit, and starting a credit lock on them is another. Locking your credit is one way you can opt for with each of the three major credit bureaus. Prior to locking your credit, it would be great if you understood how to lock your credit and how it would help you. So, let us look into it, shall we?

What Is Meant By Locking Your Credit?

Your credit reports contain vital details regarding your financial accounts, as well as other personal information. A credit lock is a way to restrict who has access to those details. Luckily, all three major credit bureaus offer credit locking, so you can control who can check your reports from your mobile device or laptop. If you lock your report and anyone tries to view your history, they won’t be able to do so. 

Are you wondering “whether I can lock my credit for free?” then the answer is yes. You can lock your reports with only one or with all three credit bureaus. Based on what credit bureau’s locking service you use, you might have to pay some fee. TransUnion and Equifax offer this service without charging anything. However, you might have to pay a monthly fee to lock or unlock your credit with Experian as a part of a suite of credit-related services.

How To Lock Credit?

If you wish to lock your credit, you can do so by signing up for a credit-locking service with one or all of the major credit bureaus. Using the service mostly involves downloading an app and creating a one-of-a-kind login to access your account. As soon as your account is set up, you can unlock or lock your credit as you see fit with only a tap of your finger. If you are wondering when you might need or want to freeze credit report, it could make sense if:

1.       You are generally concerned about being a victim of identity theft
2.       You do not have any plan to apply for new credit nywhere soon
3.       One of your bank accounts or credit cards was hacked recently

Moreover, because it is easier to unlock your credit file via the app, you can do so at any given point you want to apply for credit. The credit lock service might also offer you access to ongoing credit monitoring, credit score ranges, and alerts.

Credit Lock VS Credit Freeze

Credit locks and credit freezes are different ways to safeguard your credit information, but they do differ in some significant aspects. Understanding how these ways are parallel can help you decide which one you might want to use.

Why And How To Lock Credit Report

Now that we are aware of how to lock credit one card, how about we look into why we must lock them in the first place? Locking your credit gives a dynamic layer of security to your financial health. Here are some of the thought-provoking reasons you need to consider placing a lock on your reports from all three major bureaus:

Prevent Unauthorized Access

A credit lock serves no less than a gatekeeper, limiting access to your credit report. This makes it a lot more difficult for criminals to get to your sensitive financial information.

Minimize Identity Theft Risk

By locking your credit, you can reduce the risk of identity thieves using your personal details to open new accounts in your name.

Protect Your Information

A credit lock helps to protect your addresses, Social Security number, and any other sensitive, personally identifiable information within your credit report from getting into the wrong hands.

Maintain Credit Score

Unauthorized access to personal reports can result in fraudulent activity that might negatively influence my credit score. So, locking your credit can help prevent this from happening.

Control Who Sees Your Credit

With a credit lock, you will get the liberty to choose who can access your reports. This eventually empowers you to share and manage your financial information with only authorized lenders.

Be Proactive

Taking proactive steps to secure your credit is mandatory in the modern digitalized day and age. A credit lock gives an extra layer of defense against potential threats.

Reclaim Peace Of Mind

Knowing that your credit is locked down can reduce anxiety and stress a lot. You will get peace of mind knowing that your financial information is secured.

Is It A Good Idea To Lock Your Credit?

A credit lock might be a great idea if you are worried about identity theft and are not planning to apply for a new credit in the near future. Otherwise, you will need to keep in mind that you need to unlock your credit reports so that the lenders you are applying to can give them access.

The Bottom Line

A credit lock is a simple safety measure that you can take. It ensures you protect not only your credit reports but also your financial identity. There are also other ways to achieve that, and these ways might be cheaper. So, we suggest you consult experts from reputed credit score monitoring services, such as Gifted Financial Services, regarding whatever is best for you. You will get genuine advice from industry experts so that you can make the right decisions for your financial well-being.

If you have the habit (as you must have) of periodically checking your credit reports, then you might have come across the term “COAF.” This is particularly true if you have recently bought a new car and had a COAF credit inquiry when you applied for pre-qualification. Or, if you are a co-applicant on a car loan, you might also see this combination of alphabets on your credit report. 

If you find this term on your reports but have never applied for a Captial One Auto Loan, then it might end up hurting your credit until you get it removed. This is because you can not get rid of hard inquiries unless they are a consequence of identity theft or fraud. So, you will have to wait two years for them to vanish. 

What Is COAF On My Credit Report?

COAF stands for “Capital One Auto Finance.” If you pre-qualify for a COAF loan, then it will only result in a soft credit pull. This soft inquiry will not affect your credit as much as it can otherwise. Moreover, it will not stay on your report, so you can easily improve your credit score. However, if you plan to move forward with your loan from COAF and complete your application, it will end up in a hard credit check. This hard pull might end up staying on your credit report for up to two years. 

This is not it, but if you have submitted your application to pre-quality with COAF but decided to go along with a different loan, you will still see credit checks on your reports. Moreover, COAF will also update your reports. 

Why is COAF On Credit Report?

A COAF code can show up on your credit report if you have applied for a loan through your Capital One Auto Finance address. It might also appear on your report if you agreed to be a co-signer on an auto loan with COAF or even if you have applied for a car loan with a co-applicant. A COAF offers loans for used and new vehicles. You can also get auto refinancing with this loan. However, if you didn’t sign up for a COAF and think that this term showing up on your credit reports is an error, then you are extremely wrong. It will never show up due to an error. So, a COAF on your reports that you didn’t apply for can be a sign of an unauthorized inquiry or even identity theft.

How Long Will COAF Finance Stay On My Credit Report?

Many hard pulls stay on your reports for up to two years on one or all three of your credit reports. You can seek help from genuine credit score monitoring services such as Gifted Financial Services to keep an eye on your scores. COAF is no different. Applying for any kind of credit, i.e., a credit card, a mortgage loan, or even a car loan, will take away a few points from my credit score. If you make a bunch of credit checks for an auto or mortgage loan in a short period of time, it will most likely be considered as a single inquiry. However, the period of time you get to shop around for your credit varies heavily depending on the credit score – VantageScore or FICO. VantageScore typically offers only 14 days to make inquiries, whereas FICO typically provides 45 days. Bear in mind that you can not choose what type of score your lender uses. 

Can I Remove COAF From My Credit Report?

If you come across a COAF integration code, it might be due to a hard credit check on your report if you applied for auto financing via Capital One. It might also be there if you have cosigned for a loan from Captial One. If the dealership sent your application to different lenders in order to come up with the best interest rates, you might not have identified these inquiries. However, if the inquiry was not made by mistake (i.e., as from inaccurate reporting or identity theft), then you will be able to get rid of COAF from your report. Let us see how you can remove it from your report to elevate your credit score ranges.

1. If someone else used your identity to apply for a COAF loan, then you have the rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1990. This Act grants you 30 days to dispute an inquiry as it appears on your report. You can hire reputed credit score services such as Gifted Financial Services to dispute it.  
2. If you dispute it on your own, then mail a letter to the three credit reporting agencies (one for each) highlighting your dispute. You can call, log into each of these bureaus’ websites, and leave them an email with your complaint. 
3. Contact a credit repair agency to assist you in getting rid of the inquiry. Bear in mind that many agencies will charge you for removing reporting errors. 

Summing It All Up!

Hard pulls to your credit score, similar to what Capital One can do when you apply for a loan, can result in your scores dropping by a few points. They also stay on your credit report for up to two years. However, if you have never applied for a car loan from Capital One and still see this term on your credit report, then you might be a victim of identity theft. If this is the case, then contact Gifted Financial Services to dispute this error. And, if you are wondering, “What bureau does Capital One pull? “ then here is the answer. Capital One can pull from any of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. So, you must dispute this issue as your first priority.