My timeline and what are my chances?

I submitted my eQip on July 8, 2019. Had my interview with my background investigator on July 22, 2019. That same day the BI spoke to my employers, references, neighbors etc. When I spoke to her a few days later she said her part would be done within a week, which was July 30. I know so far I’m pretty lucky that it’s going very quickly, but that will probably change.

I’m hoping one of the pros on here can tell me what they think my chances are as I’m very new to this whole thing. I have no criminal history, no foreign contacts, no drug use, I’ve had the same job in law enforcement for 21 years with no problems. My only problems would be in the financial section. I was separated from my ex in 2003 and divorced in 2005. Right before the separation, we were 28 at the time, we bought several appliances and a hot tub. The appliances stayed with her in the house, and the payments were not made. It ended in a judgment in court and we had to pay for it, about $1700, and it was paid off in 2005. I don’t have a good excuse other than we were separating, she had the appliances, so I wasn’t going to pay for them. I sold the hot tub after the divorce but did not pay off the loan, as I needed the cash. I made payments for a few years and then couldn’t make the payment, so there was a judgement against me in 2009, and it was paid in full in 2011. In 2009 I was paying $900 a month in child support and had my kids full time as my ex flaked out and disappeared. Finally in 2011 I got full custody and raised the kids alone. Since then the only blemishes I have are two minor medical bills, $131 in 2016 and $86 in 2018 sent to collections. The $131 was paid in 2016 and the $86 was paid in June of this year when I checked my credit in this process and saw it there. My son is a type 1 diabetic, since 2009, and we have a lot of medical bills that come in and a couple slipped through the cracks. My only other issue is my state taxes did not get filed for 2017. I did not realize this until I checked my tax record for this process. The forms were completed in TurboTax, i still had them in the app, but for some reason they were never accepted by the state. I was due a refund of $566. I mailed a paper copy in June and the state says it’s still “in process”.

So I have no outstanding debt, my credit score is around 720, and I have never owed anything in taxes, but didn’t file state taxes on time in 2017. Are these deal breakers?

Thank you to anyone that reads all of that and responds.

There may be some questions, but you can mitigate each and every one of these issues pretty easily. All have been taken care of and most are well in the past.

Look at the Adjudicative Guidelines and the mitigating factors for financial issues. Get documentation, including a personal statement, together to explain it all and have it ready for your interview. You might not even need it but it’s far better to be prepared.

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Thank you very much for the help. I already had one interview and provided the BI with a letter showing the collection was paid and a copy of my tax return for 2017. And explained each situation. She hasn’t asked for anything else so far.

I think you will be fine. They do not “technically” use a FICO score. However, the FICO is a fairly accurate and very dynamic reflection of your payment history, and that is what they assess. You have since recovered and now show very good credit, salute on that. They have the ability to see a much deeper view than the standard three credit companies. I see 800 plus credit scores, but they find an 8 year old debt in dispute. The company wrote it off, the employee won’t pay it on principle (they challenged the debt; high fees on a long gone cell phone), but the clearance folks wanted to see all the documentation. Thankfully the person kept every correspondence in a neat file. She cleared TS SCI Full Poly. The items going out beyond 10 years are pretty much mitigated not only by time, but explainable by circumstance. Divorce type debts are understandable. On another note, as one who had the same experience and raised a daughter all by myself under very similar circumstance, I salute you. Missing a bill here and there happens. Clearly the credit score reflects you are on time the vast majority of the time. So in that sense, the FICO indicates you are doing quite well for payment reliability. One of the biggest things on finance is addressed vice unaddressed debt. Pay the bill, get into a payment plan…it is addressed. Leave it sit because you cannot pay or do not want to pay…it is unaddressed. Ed is a tax guy and can best advise on the 2017 taxes. I believe he previously posted if due a refund, you still must file, but it isn’t viewed as the same in avoiding filing (correct me if I got that wrong Ed). I think it becomes an issue if you owe them money or simply did not wish to report income. The fact of you getting over $500? Bonus to you. But as Ed said, get all your paperwork in order and be prepared to talk to it. Having it and not needing it, far better than needing and not having.

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The IRS (state or federal) will not chase after you if THEY think that they owe you money. That doesn’t mean that the clearance folks don’t want to see every return filed.

My guess is that, as more people file their own taxes on line, we will see more “missed” state returns. As I understand, the free sites will file your federal return with no payment but you have to pay to file your state. Plenty of people probably file their federal return and decide to come back later and file the state (maybe after they get their federal refund) but never get back to do it.

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Thank you very much. I hope you and Ed understand how appreciated the knowledge and guidance you provide here is.

I provided the BI with all the documentation and explained everything to her. She said that she does not need anything else right now, but it’s possible whoever she turns her report over to could want more information. She said because my clearance is for a background investigator position, it’s probably being fast tracked? Does that mean that the adjudication can also be fast tracked, or does it just apply to the investigation?

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Certainly it can be returned for more work and scoping. A solid investigator documents the issue and follow up so they don’t get rework from their boss. Adjudication is the one hard to judge. I’ve see folks go in and out in a week. I’ve seen folks go in 60 days earlier than the 1 week person, and they are still in there months later. Individual, specific complexities come into play there, on top of backlog, or if it is an operational or support job. .

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NBIB does the background investigator adjudications for now… I have not heard that DCSA has taken over that responsibility.

BI initial background investigations are one of the many priorities. The actual completion of the field work and adjudication depend on the case complexity.

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