Experian to offer credit freeze in November

We recently announced on this blog that Trans Union plans to allow consumers to freeze access to their credit reports starting Oct. 15. Now Experian says it will do the same beginning Nov. 1. Equifax is still working on a plan, but said it expects to be able to offer consumers the opportunity to freeze reports this fall.

The freeze will be free to identity theft victims. Other consumers will pay $10 to place or temporarily "thaw" a freeze. Seniors ages 65 and older in Washington may want to wait until September 2008, however. That's when changes to Washington's credit freeze law go into effect that allow seniors to request a freeze for free. More information about credit freezes is available at /freeze.aspx.We'll post instructions on how to request a freeze under these changes as soon as we know more.