Security Clearance and Credit

[jspace17]

Hey everyone,

My girlfriend and I were in a little car accident and I've been helping pay for her medical bills and it's really been adding up quite a bit. I'm in a battle with insurance right now to get reimbursed, but between that and getting my PPL, I've racked up quite a bit of credit debt.

My debt to income with O1 pay will still be less than 40% and I will be able to pay off a lot of it in due time. I still have good credit and no late payments. Will I get a chance to explain this to the background investigator? I'm worried that I'll be denied security clearance because of the debt but really it's just bad timing.

[nunya]

No bankruptcy?  Just a less than ideal debt:income?  You're fine.  They're not mortgage lenders; they just want to make sure you're not blatantly irresponsible or an easy target for a bribe.

Edited April 19, 2017 by nunya

[magnetfreezer]

not blatantly irresponsible or an easy target for a bride.

Describes many LTs unfortunately

[nunya]

6 hours ago, magnetfreezer said:

Describes many LTs unfortunately

Especially in CBM.

[Fud]

11 hours ago, jspace17 said:

Hey everyone,

My girlfriend and I were in a little car accident and I've been helping pay for her medical bills and it's really been adding up quite a bit. I'm in a battle with insurance right now to get reimbursed, but between that and getting my PPL, I've racked up quite a bit of credit debt.

My debt to income with O1 pay will still be less than 40% and I will be able to pay off a lot of it in due time. I still have good credit and no late payments. Will I get a chance to explain this to the background investigator? I'm worried that I'll be denied security clearance because of the debt but really it's just bad timing.

Not sure why you're paying her medical bills since she is only your girlfriend, but I don't personally know your situation. 

In regard to your security clearance, based on the facts you've presented, you should be okay if that is the only thing in your past or present.   

[pawnman]

13 hours ago, jspace17 said:

Hey everyone,

My girlfriend and I were in a little car accident and I've been helping pay for her medical bills and it's really been adding up quite a bit. I'm in a battle with insurance right now to get reimbursed, but between that and getting my PPL, I've racked up quite a bit of credit debt.

My debt to income with O1 pay will still be less than 40% and I will be able to pay off a lot of it in due time. I still have good credit and no late payments. Will I get a chance to explain this to the background investigator? I'm worried that I'll be denied security clearance because of the debt but really it's just bad timing.

You'll be fine.  They're only assessing whether your credit score makes you a risk for bribery...like, multiple pending foreclosures or repossessions, multiple unpaid bills, constantly late on credit card payments.

The total amount is a small factor, but plenty of officers have a much larger debt-to-income ratio...hell, I own a house and the amount left on the mortgage is more than my annual income.  

The credit report really tells them two things: are you in such financial trouble that you might consider selling state secrets?  And are you a responsible person (pay your bills on time?  Don't take outlandish loans?  Make relatively sound financial decisions?).

Based on what you've written here, it seems like you're a pretty responsible guy who had a bad circumstance happen.  Keep paying the bills on time and your credit report won't stop you from getting a security clearance.
 

[jspace17]

Thanks a lot everyone, I guess now that it's getting closer I'm becoming paranoid. My credit is still pretty good despite the accident. I'll do my best to pay it off in the meantime, but this has been one of the things nagging at me lately.

3 hours ago, Fud said:

Not sure why you're paying her medical bills since she is only your girlfriend, but I don't personally know your situation. 

In regard to your security clearance, based on the facts you've presented, you should be okay if that is the only thing in your past or present.   

Yeah, I know... We've been dating 3 years now and her parents aren't very willing to help. If I didn't pay the bill then she wouldn't go to the doctor and I just didn't want to find out she had a herniated disc or something. When I offered to pay, I was under the impression that insurance would reimburse me but I guess you can't put a price on health or peace of mind.

[M2]

Just be sure to keep ahead of your debt.  It is far too easy to sluff it off and get into trouble.  If you're having any difficulties, contact the companies you owe money to and set up a payment plan.  In most states, as long as your making a good faith effort to pay off the bills, it will stop the debt from being sold to a collection company...

Cheers!  M2

[jspace17]

12 hours ago, M2 said:

Just be sure to keep ahead of your debt.  It is far too easy to sluff it off and get into trouble.  If you're having any difficulties, contact the companies you owe money to and set up a payment plan.  In most states, as long as your making a good faith effort to pay off the bills, it will stop the debt from being sold to a collection company...

Cheers!  M2

Good advice. I'm making more than the minimum payments each month, but it's easy to let things get out of hand. At the moment, I'm taking advantage of 0% APR balance transfers until I can get my balance to a manageable value. The debt isn't something that I couldn't pay off in a year or two, but unforeseen circumstances always prolong it... Thanks for the help!

[Kenny Powers]

but unforeseen circumstances always prolong it...

 

I see you've met life. Lesson #1, it doesn't give a shit about your plans.

 

You'll be fine, just stay on top of it.

 

Consider reevaluating your finances. Make sure you have a steady plan, that allows you to save, pay down your debt, have insurance, invest, all those things that will keep you from "accidentally" getting in too much debt to start with.

 

Although it's tempting to pay debt off ASAP, you also have to get on a financial plan you can stick with or you'll find yourself in this situation over and over.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

 

 

[jspace17]

16 hours ago, Kenny Powers said:

 

I see you've met life. Lesson #1, it doesn't give a shit about your plans.

 

You'll be fine, just stay on top of it.

 

Consider reevaluating your finances. Make sure you have a steady plan, that allows you to save, pay down your debt, have insurance, invest, all those things that will keep you from "accidentally" getting in too much debt to start with.

 

Although it's tempting to pay debt off ASAP, you also have to get on a financial plan you can stick with or you'll find yourself in this situation over and over.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

 

 

Great advice. Yeah I'm working on having a good savings account to keep as an emergency fund but I've been using the credit cards as it unfortunately. I'm making progress on it now, but it'll take some time before I've got extra spending money.

 

Thank you for the help!