what is a credit freeze 
a credit freeze allows you to stop third parties with some exceptions from looking at your credit report you can request a freeze for free but must contact each credit bureau separately to do so 10the bottom linehard inquiries happen when you apply for a loan or other form of credit and the lender requests your credit report while hard inquiries can have a negative impact on your credit score the effect is usually small and only temporary and shouldn t deter you from applying for credit when you really need it 