FAA SF85 with Bad Credit

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

Hi everyone,

I stumbled across this forum while searching for stories of people being able to obtain a public trust with bad credit. Long story short, my credit has had multiple charge offs over the past two years due to having to assist my family financially while my dad was struggling with cancer. It wasnt something I wanted to do as up until that point, I always had excellent credit. It came down to ensuring the family had a house and food over paying credit cards and a student loan. It got to the point of me considering bankruptcy, but I didn’t want people thinking I was trying to avoid paying my debts.

In hindsight, I wish I had contact the card companies and asked for assistance at the beginning of the hardship, but I was too embarrassed to do so. I have been able to settle most of the charge offs over the past few years when I had extra money available, and have four that I have payment arrangements set up with the collection agencies for within the last few months. I am hoping they will look at my whole credit profile as it will show that I was responsible and made all payments on time until my dads cancer got progressively worse. Even during that time, I picked up extra hours at work when able to be able to pay and settle some of the delinquent accounts.

When I filled out my SF85P, I disclosed all accounts that were currently in payment arrangements (forgot to mention accounts that had been settled / paid off) and gave the reason for the delinquency as well as the payment arrangements that are underway. I even listed accounts that were late previously but current now. I want to be able to show that I am working towards handling the balances as my credit health is very important to me. I am hoping this will mitigate the risk as this clearance is for my dream job.

I received an LOI recently requesting info on all the accounts and proof of payments made, accounts settled, and reasons for falling behind. They also asked about the accounts that were previously paid/settled, so I submitted the documentation for those as well. I sent all information to my security POC via e-mail and US Mail since it was a lot of files.

Do any of you have similar stories with successful outcomes, or advice? The agency is the FAA and I will need a Moderate Risk Public Trust for the position. Thank you in advance!

@Marko Do you have any advice? After browsing for a while, you seem like a solid person to ask. :slight_smile:

2

It sounds like you have provided all of the mitigating factors considered when evaluating financial issues. There are many similar cases with favorable outcomes on the DOHA appeals website. Here is a example case: https://ogc.osd.mil/doha/industrial/2019/18-02855.h1.pdf

3

Thank you for the link and your input! I am hoping I will hear some kind of positive news soon! The only thing I can see being an issue vs the case listed is that my payment history with some of the creditors is only a couple of months old. I did include an offer in my LOI to sit down with my Security POC monthly if needed to show proof of repayment on the accounts as agreed until they feel it is sufficient.

4

could you please let me know, What is the final decision.

5

I was recently adjudicated favorably for a TS clearance. I had credit issues, and I was extremely worried about it going into it. Here was what I had going on:

-Defaulted student loan for $19,0000
-Charged off car loan for $14,000
-5 accounts that went to collections totaling about $2,500 (BI only knew about 3 of them)

I’m a military member, and many of these issues coincided with deployments and military moves. However, as I made clear to the investigator, I admittedly put my finances on the back burner, and could have done a better job of managing my bills. By the time I was interviewed, I had resolved all of the debts, either through payments, agreements or documented payment plans. I brought every shred of documentation I could think of with me to the interview, bank statements, emails, etc. I was painfully honest about everything…trust me, I know how embarrassing this stuff is to admit to. However, I wanted the investigator (and DOD CAF) to know I took responsibility for the debts, and that I was serious about getting the situation straightened out.

I think you stand a good chance. I would tell you not to worry, but I know you will anyway. Good luck, I hope it works out for you!