Please help. Guidance needed

This is my second post as a follow up to a previous post. I have been employed by a DOE contractor for almost 3 years. I obtained my TS clearance with previous financial issues including charge offs that I was paying off and within the last 2 years since I have been employed with DOE, we have had 3 pets put down and I had to pay the animal hospital up front which caused me to default on a few more cc’s. 4 total cards with a total chrage off or collection of around $2500 and in the process I had a 30 day late on my home equity loan and a 90 days late on my mortgage in order to try to keep my animals alive. I have settled all 4 card balances and my home loan and mortgage have been reaged and are current so everything is current or settled with zero balance. 2 questions, first, am I in great jeopardy of losing my clearance because of this and second, should I report this to my agency even though my reinvestigation is not for another 2 years. Please help me because I am losing sleep over this. Thank You

I would consult with your supervision (leadership) and talk to them explaining the situation. I’m in the similar situation as u somewhat. Maybe your FSO could know.

Struff2000, you’ve asked the same question previously in different threads. You will continue losing sleep over this because you will receive the same response from any credible source.

I’ve advised you to report it. This is up to you. You will be asked, “why did you not report these accounts to your employer?” during your next investigation. The correct response is always “But I did report them to my FSO, (insert name reported to).” Be aware you make yourself vulnerable to losing your clearance for not following reporting rules (Personal Conduct), even though you mitigated the finances.

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There are specific reporting requirements for clearance holders. I know bankruptcy is on the list, but I am not sure about delinquencies. I would check with your security officer for a list of the reporting requirements. It will come up in your reinvestigation, but you should be able to mitigate it with the action you have taken to resolve it and the circumstances surrounding the delinquencies.

There are always reporting requirements for Federal security clearances. Check with your security officer.FSO.

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Thank you for the great advice. One last question, by me reporting it, can I be terminated immediately and/or will they reinvestigate before my 5 year mark?

Unless there are strict reporting guidelines in your facility - I doubt they would terminate you over the finances. As I’ve mentioned, it is your lack of candor that will cause you the most grief not the collection accounts…

IF DoE was really concerned about your finances, you would go through a subject interview. Otherwise the security office will file that you reported your issue and discussed the issue with them. You will need to report the collection accounts/delinquent accounts on your SF86.

Just a personal story . . . During a PR, for a DoD Secret, applicant was denied under Guideline F. Late mortgage, CC settlements and a number of other issues. The applicant was not asked a single time why these were not reported prior to the PR. The applicant WAS asked why two or three were not addressed prior to showing up during the PR. The answer to that was that those problems began DURING the PR not prior to it.

I’m not saying that things shouldn’t be reported. I’m just saying that there are cases where that doesn’t seem to cause an issue.

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Reporting them, even if the FSO looks at you like you are crazy…if you have this documented, clearly shows you are not hiding this and you are less vulnerable to an offer to pay off debt from a foreign influence. It just makes good sense. We clearly are not talking about a credit card due on Friday, paid the following Monday. I don’t tell anyone if I see a late fee show up, I challenge the late payment fee. 90 and 180 days indicates an ongoing situation. By reporting and tracking every communication to the creditor, you can produce overwhelming evidence you were on top of this all along.

Thank you. I just reported them this morning and I now have 3 days to provide a written report to NRLFO. Called all of the animal hospitals and they are sending me proof of $3000 vet bills during that time period which caused me to get behind. Should I be alright here?

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This was really good to read thank you. Still waiting on mine.

Without knowing your detailed financial situation - no one can give you an accurate assessment. However, what I can tell you is that financial issues remain the leading cause of clearance revocations. From what I briefly read of your post, $3000 in vet bills disrupted your life significantly - not good. Personally if I were you I would consult with a bankruptcy attorney.

Bankruptcy attorney for what? None of my bills are late, everything is current. I was just reporting a situation that occurred that forced me to exhaust a good amount of money. Vets expect payment up front.

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Compound the above statement with the fact that you have previously adjudicated financial issues… You are really asking why you should consult with a bankruptcy attorney?

OK. I have seen many credit issues. $2500 delinquent is not much debt. 30 days delinquent or even 90 days delinquent doesn’t raise much of an issue. I can not speak from an adjudicative perspective. However, with the circumstances surrounding the debt and the action taken, it falls into the category of life events. The risk involved of someone owing 2500 is minimal. I have come across much worse situations where it was adjudicated favorably(many times). People have downturns in their lives at many junctures. Bankruptcy is a last option when there is no way to turn it around. Having a charge off and 30-90 day late payments does not warrant that. Delinquencies are usually addressed at 120 days.

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Note that I suggested to the op to CONSULT with a bankruptcy attorney, not file immediately for bankruptcy, big difference. Furthermore, the op noted previous financial issues adjudicated on his prior investigation. Given his current financial woes an adjudicator could establish a pattern of financial irresponsibility which may lead to an SOR being issued. Consulting with a bankruptcy attorney, and providing proof of such consultation to his FSO shows the OP is exhausting all potential remedies to prevent further issues.

Your suggesting that someone with paid off credit card debt and an up to date mortgage and home equity loan consult with a bankruptcy attorney. What are they supposed to consult with the attorney about?

Financial counseling on the other WOULD make sense. Even something like Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace classes would be a good idea. The OP isn’t having debt problems now but this would show that they are working harder to prevent them from happening again.

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Ed, first, I’m so glad that you have chosen to respond to my posts again! Second, note that the OP has unsecured debts that he is struggling to pay, a home equity line, and a mortgage he was 90 days late on. Let’s also go ahead and safely assume that there are other debts we on this forum are unaware of. On top of that, he has told us (without any detail) about previous financial issues. Compound all of those issues and one can reasonably conclude that a consult with a bankruptcy attorney may be beneficial for the op.

Bankruptcy is not reserved for people who are just late on payments; in fact, often times, bankruptcy is utilized by individuals with overwhelming amounts of both secured and unsecured debts which are weighing them down and prohibiting them from achieving a reasonable financial stability.

At any rate, the advice from everyone on this thread is valid @Struff2000 - report your issues, seek out financial counseling , speak with a bankruptcy attorney or don’t. Bottom line is you are the only one who knows what should be done given your own set of individual variables.

I took the Dave ramsey Financial peace University Incase dod caf wanted more proof of me getting the education of getting out of debt. Will they ask for info.

I submitted my paperwork. How long do you think it will take before I hear something?