The Impact of Delinquent Debt on Security Clearances
Posted by Eric Pecinovsky on 20 Nov 2009 at 11:37 am | Tagged as: Cleared News, Getting/Updating a Clearance, Security-Cleared Career Advice
Amid growing unemployment, foreclosure and delinquency rates are spiking. We thought it would be a good time to revisit how a person’s personal financial situation can affect their security clearance.
A sampling of Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) security clearance hearings showed (in 2007, just when the recession was taking hold) that about 50% of clearance denials involved “Financial Considerations”
Since delinquent debt is by far the most common financial concern, we published several articles on this very topic entitled; The Impact of Delinquent Debt on Security Clearances, What To Do If You Have Delinquent Debt, Explaining Delinquent Debt on the SF-86, Delinquent Debt and Interim Clearance, as well as several blog posts.
For active duty, most military bases have a program called “Financial Readiness Program (FRP)” within the MWR command. FRP offers services to assist in preventing financial problems as well as debt liquidation program, designed to help arrange to pay off their debts. Just an FYI.
I currently have Secret clearance and work for a defense contractor. Due to past failed buisnesses I have about $60k in delinquent debt. I have been working with an attourney to negotiate payment of this debt for about a year. This week I received summons for two of them. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. If I am forced to file chapter 7 on these item what are the odds of loosing my clearance and thereby my job? My mortgage and all else is current. I know that if I do not adress it now I may loose clearance anyway when I try to renew it.
ron:
You don’t have the option to wait until your next periodic reinvestigation for your security clearance. You have an obligation to report your delinquent debts to your Facility Security Officer now.
The word “bankruptcy” does not appear in the Adjudicative Guidelines; however, bankruptcy is evidence of “inability or unwillingness to satisfy debts,” which is covered by the Adjudicative Guidelines as a potentially disqualifying condition. Bankruptcy does not result in automatic clearance revocation. It normally results in an “incident report” submitted by a person’s Facility Security Officer (FSO), which then usually leads to a limited investigation and adjudication of the person’s eligibility to continue holding a security clearance. Whether or not a person ultimately keeps their clearance depends on many factors, including the nature of the delinquent debts, payment history, the reason a person became (and continued to be) unable to pay the debts, and efforts the person made to resolve the debts after they became delinquent.
I have a question regarding both finances and residences.
*****Finances*****
I have a child support judgment against me. This judgment has in the past been reported to collections (90, then 180 days past due), and is also garnished from my wages. It has been current since 2005 with me currently being WAY ahead on payments.
With this alone I can answer yes to almost all of the questions in section 26 (Financial Record). Can this be summarized on just one of the entries in section 26 or should I answer Yes to all that apply and explain it all as “child support” since it’s part of the process here in Texas?
*****Residency*****
What is considered “living” in a location?
In my scenario, I was a contractor working in Iraq (without a clearance) with several trips to Thailand and one 10 week trip to India.
My travels are as follows:
Over the course of 3 years I spent 2 weeks at a time in Thailand on various occasions. On 1 occasion in 2007 I spent 5 months there (to spend time with my Thai fiancé, now my wife) then returned to Iraq. I left Iraq again in early 2009 and went to Thailand for a month… then on to India for 10 weeks, and back to Thailand for about 2 months. The purpose of 2 month trip to Thailand was to prep my family (wife and 2 kids, both kids are dual citizens) for immigration to the US. We have been here since August.
I am not sure if I should list every single address I was at during those time periods since I did not have legal residence in Thailand (i.e. visas, house, etc) though during the 5 month stay I did rent an apartment. If I am to list those addresses, whom do I list as a contact that knew me there? My wife’s family members? A family member on my side that knew where I was?
Your answers and insight are greatly appreciated…Thank you in advance.
JLL:
Place a “yes” response to each question in section 26 that applies to you and complete each of the branching questions in eQIP completely. Use the comment section of question 26 and explain that all the “yes” responses relate to past due child support payments that have been paid on time since 2005.
I advise people to list any address where they stayed for a period of one month or more and to use the comment section to explain anything out of the ordinary. The SF86 only requires information accurate to within a month If you were in the same city for more than a month but did not stayed at any single address for 30 days, list the one you were at the longest and use the comment section to explain the situation and provide the other addresses or at least some information about them.
eQIP forces you to account for any period of time in excess of one month in section 11. So if you visited many different locations in India, you will have to enter mo/yr to mo/yr, other, “multiple locations,” “multiple cities,” India. Then explain in the comment section why you were there, where you stayed, and what you were doing.
It is best to list someone in the United States who can accurately corroborate or verify where you were during the various times you were outside the United States. You can use a relative for this purpose, but a non-relative would be better.