Hello,
I’m getting my clearance renewed. I had an interview with an investigator. He was pushy and more intimidating than any of the other investigators I’ve dealt with. He wanted to ask me about 4 credit cards that were all paid off. The last one was paid off back in 2019. For every credit card he asked me about I told him those were all paid off and showed a 0 balance. He also mentioned, “Well I’ll get this sent up if they say yes you’re good if they say no then you could lose your job and end up working at Wal-Mart or Amazon”. Then after the interview was over I started freaking out.
My boss told me that I got no reason to worry if my charge offs were paid and show a 0 balance. She also told me that as long as I can live within my means, I’m good. The only debt I have now is one credit card, one house payment, and one car payment. I’m current and good on all of them. Should I be good?
Sounds very unprofessional. Investigators have no adjudicative authority, but many of them do think they do and often believe and act like they are investigating a crime and not an imperfect human being. The Walmart/Amazon comment was totally out of line. Perhaps you should get their badge number and make a complaint.
We are required to ask about delinquent debt that meets certain criteria, no matter if you paid it off or not.
Investigators should not be making off handed comments but a lot if the time, Ive seen Investigators trying to make a joke to lighten the mood. I find this not to be the most helpful tactics, especially when discussing sensitive topics.
It is too bad Investigators are not trained in soft skills.
Sounds like a very unprofessional investigator, but are your accounts paid off or charged off? Those are two very different things. Charged off debt is still legally valid debt that belongs to you even if a balance no longer appears on your credit report. Seems like maybe something got lost in translation.
Some were listed as charge off but I’ve paid them all. All of them show a $0 balance on my credit report and I have documents saying that the accounts are paid and I don’t owe them anything.
When I was an investigating officer in the Army, my Battalion Commander told me that I am not a cop, I’m not an interrogator, I’m just asking questions to get information for him to make a decision. It’s not my job to judge or accuse anything. Just ask questions and write down answers.
The common misconception about financial reporting is the seven year requirement. Even if you paid off the delinquent debts, charge offs, or collections, you are responsible for reporting them if they fall within the seven year period. You will be confronted on the missing information if it was required to be reported.
I am not an adjudicator and I state this to every Subject before a Subject interview because the norm is for them to ask me if they will get their clearance.
From what you said - your investigator’s behavior was inappropriate. If you believe their behavior was inappropriate, file a complaint. The process to file a complaint is easily found on the DCSA website.