My case has been referred to dcsa for financial reasons. I have two unpaid debts that have been closed since 2008. That were flagged by the investigator.
My credit history has been good since then.
Is it better for me to pay the debts before I respond to dcsa interrogatory?
What is the best response to help mitigate?
If the debts are closed, why do you still have to pay them? I would think if they are closed they have been written off… and this is from 12 years ago.
I don’t think paying the debts now will help your case, they’ll just say you only paid the debts because you got flagged for it.
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The investigator did their job.
And I agree with squirrel above, paying them know looks like you only paid them because they were found out about.
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I appreciate the insight. Any advice as far as how I should respond to the interrogatory?
If any debt was in the scope of the questionnaire they where disclosed. I’m not questioning the investigator or complaining. Just seeking advice. I do appreciate your insight.
I’m not a lawyer and I don’t even play one on TV but I would think that you would need to show that the debt was written off or closed, was not showing up on your credit reports, and you honestly did not think that you needed to pay it off anymore. Now in some cases, having a debt “written off” or “charged off” like this is actually treated as income so you’d need to address that issue… and I don’t know how that works. I think you would also want to emphasize that this debt is from 12 years ago and since then you have had excellent credit with no similar incidents.
Anyway that is what I would do.
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Pay off the debts. Hope that is all they really wanted you to do.
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Charged off and written off debts are not relieved debts. The delinquency continues … and anything in the last 7 years is reportable.
Again - it is normally the behavior - that you never took care of these debts or addressed them- that is the basis for an area of concern.
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If you paid off a delinquent debt 7 years ago, it is not reportable. Anything that you still owe is reportable regardless of how long ago it became delinquent. Charge off/write off merely means the debt was removed from an accounts receivable ledger and charged off to profit and loss. It does not mean the debt was absolved. If a debt is absolved, you will be issued a 1099-C and it becomes taxable income. After a few years most debts cannot be pursued in a civil court and after seven years of inactivity the debts fall off a credit report; but that doesn’t mean you no longer owe the debt. The National Security Adjudicative Guidelines specify “inability to satisfy debts” and “unwillingness to satisfy debts” as examples of potentially disqualifying conduct. If you owe the debts and you don’t pay (or at least begin repaying) them, it’ll probably be a slam dunk denial. If you pay the debt, they will probably claim that you only paid them because you want a security clearance, but you’ll at least have a chance to explain why they went unpaid for 12 years.
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William nailed it as always. You may find it hard to pay a debt that is no longer listed. But its the right thing to do. I’ve seen far too many to count 740 plus credit scores but several bad debts from 7 plus years ago revealed. The investigators see a much deeper dive on payment habits than credit karma or FICO.
Can you be trusted to live up to your financial obligations? Your promises…your word…
Can we then trust you live up to your obligations regarding classified?
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Thank You! Great advise and insight from you and William.
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I’m not sure if someone needs to hear this… A few grand probably saved my career. The advise I received was priceless.
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So did you pay them off before you responded?