So before anyone jumps on me, I realize this was an error on my part and I should have been more thorough with everything. However, I was not.
Anyway… I’m up for my ts/sci reinvestigation. I’m assuming it’s safe to say that credit is a factor in this. This is the only thing that really worries me.
You see, I had a credit card for a store and I paid regularly that is until I PCS’d in 2018. All of my mail got forwarded to my current address except this one. When I would pay the bills I would just look at what needed to be paid and pay it.
Well not an excuse, but you know out of site out of mind. And I haphazardly assumed it was paid off, that is until I went to buy a new car and this was brought to my attention. I was told by the dealership that this card was 120-140 days late. Obviously I was surprised because I never received anything (upon talking to the cc company they still had my old address and had my phone # off by one #).
I contacted the card company and we did a settlement (surprisingly this was the only option they would give me). Now it was not paid in full, but it is now at least settled (status actually says settled for less than full amount, but when looking at balance it says $0) and no longer owe anything for this card (part of the settlement).
So here is where I’m worried. This account was closed and charged off, but once I realized the issue I paid the settlement.
Since this is now settled, do I have anything to worry about? I’m in my 13th year in the military and am praying this doesn’t affect my clearance.
Again, I realize that this is my error and my fault.
Any insight?
Thanks for any help
You would report this…but if your credit score is otherwise clear, it won’t harm you. Prior military myself, that does happen and more often than it should. The BI folks will get a deeper view than standard three credit agencies. Many times they will produce in writing a debt on our applicants that does not show up on any of the three major bureaus. Even with an 850 score I had a garnishment for a tax bill on something I sold years earlier. It happens. You addressed it and the account is now closed, the further in your rear view mirror this is…the better it becomes.
Yes credit is clear. It’s not great… I believe it’s fair.
Thanks for your input. I worry that it had been so delinquent snd that since it was settled for less than owed that it would affect me. I feel a little better.
I would strongly encourage fixing anything not in a repayment plan, getting caught up in the meantime, and keeping records. 650 is fair. If you are below that…at the TS SCI level it begins to impact you. Always aim to be 650 or better.
Report the incident to your security folks. If you are military, I would report this in writing (letter or email) so you can show you reported the incident.
Otherwise, report the incident on your SCA during your next application and not worry about it. This is a common incident with active military. The good thing is you took care of the debt and the rest of your bills are paid on time.
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you had one charge off and it’s settled? No, you do not have anything to concern yourself about. To put this in perspective, I have a client that has two repossessions, three collection accounts, 4 charge offs mortgage lates, etc. The total on the collections is over 7k. She got her TS.
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