SF86 Financial Questions

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

To start off, I have never filed for any sort of clearance before so the whole process will be a new experience for me. I am looking to obtain a Secret Clearance and will be filling out the SF86.

I have no criminal history or any sort of drug use in my past. I do however have a year or 2 stint of financial difficulties that I let snowball. In late 2018 I fell behind on a credit card payment, and while I was making payments each month, it was not enough to cover the late fee from the month prior and it compounded to the point where I wasn’t making a dent. The card ended up being charged off at a total of around $700. I paid the card off in full in 2020.

I also allowed my student loans to become delinquent in 2019 and they went into collections around June or July. After getting married in January of 2020, my wife and I made it a priority to get my debt under control and start to rehabilitate the loans. I made my last rehabilitation payment last month and they are currently in good standing.

In terms of risk mitigation, do they take into account household income when looking at my current and future financial situation? My wife makes excellent money, and as of 2020 we share all bills, which was not the case in 2018-2019 when my loans became an issue. At that time, we divided bills in half and each paid on our own. I was not making very much money at that time and I chose to pay the bills that affected both of us instead of ones that only affected me. I did not ask her for help financially at that time because we were not married.

Basically, are there any serious red flags in my summary?

2

You have a flag but report the past debts, individually, with all the details. The flag should not be serious issue if your delinquent debts are currently under control.

2 Likes
3

It sounds pretty solid to me but based on second-hand knowledge of people with similar backgrounds, be prepared to provide a lot of documentation ie statements letters receipts postcards pictures of your cat etc etc etc.

4

All debts are current and I haven’t been late on a payment in almost 2 years. I will obviously be upfront and honest about my finances in the past, I just wanted to see if anybody had any info regarding how financial situations can change once someone gets married.

For example, does the fact that my personal income hasn’t changed dramatically hurt my mitigation chances?

5

We normally look at household income and debts.

List the debts from the last seven years, even if current, on the SF86 and you should be fine.

6

Awesome, will do. I appreciate the info.