Public Trust moderate risk

I recently applied for IT job that requires “public trust moderate risk”. But I do have concern that I may not get a clearance.

I have charged off credit card debt about 14K in total, and 4K of it went to collection. I was able to pay 3K of it so far. My plan was to make a settlement for all of my debt after getting a high pay job but this job requires “public trust moderate risk”. I don’t have enough saving to pay those debts in a short period of time. My plan is to get a payment plan with these debt collectors, starting with collection agencies. What are my changes of getting a security clearance after having a payment plan with these debt collectors or what should I do to increase my chances?

The debt itself is not the issue, but rather the cause of the debt and actions taken to resolve it. That is the focus in background investigations. If you have a documented payment plan in place and are adhering to it there should be no issue. However, if all you have is , “yes, I plan to pay it off after I get a higher paying job” then you are sunk! And FYI, public trust is not a security clearance - it means you are deemed suitable to work for the federal government in duties that require a higher degree of trust that than the average Joe.

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Thank you so much for answering my question. I already listed all of my debts, and creating a payment plan. I am hopping I will be resolving a 4K debt in a week by settling it, starting with collection agencies.

You will likely get a Letter of Interrogatory (LOI) inquiring about your failure to honor your debts.

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