Credit affecting clearance

[greenusc2215]

I signed up for the navy last April and passed all the nuke test and whatnot to qualify me for the Nuclear Program. I was extended the contract where i was told everything is good from here on out. Over the summer i met a buddy who is a Sea-Bee and he was telling me some stories about is buddies who have gone for clearances and were denied them due to credit issues.
After hearing that i immediately began to question everyone i could whether or not this was going to be a problem for me. I was told not to worry about it its not a big deal. I don't know whether or not i want to believe it or not. My recruiter is a CS1 which i respect but there is not a whole lot he knows about nukes and signing them up since i was his first one.  So i thought this would be a good place to get some answerers from people who have been there and have a better grip on whats going on.

So my question for you guys is :

Does bad credit affect your entrance into the nuclear program and if so how to alleviate the issue before shipping (beside the standard call your creditors and whatnot)? And if it is not that big of an issue how bad of credit can you have before it becomes one?

[watson4]

YES IT WILL... Six years as a Naval Sonar Tech...I was a year into school when I was confronted about a past bill...I had to take care of it and have proof before my security clearance could go any farther..  You will be admitted and passed through as interim until they get around to processing your clearance..Just keep in mind that just because you do not hear about it before boot does not mean it will not be a future problem...

[UncaBuffalo]

Same holds true for commercial power & DOE clearances...BAD CREDIT is BAD NEWS!

[greenusc2215]

Thanks for the help. I'm talking about a small amount of debt... under 10,000 for sure. if i show that i am in good standing with my creditors and efforts have been made towards cleaning it up will that be good enough?

[UncaBuffalo]

Thanks for the help. I'm talking about a small amount of debt... under 10,000 for sure. if i show that i am in good standing with my creditors and efforts have been made towards cleaning it up will that be good enough?

That will be a key point.  I would think you'll be fine...

[remowil55]

In this economy and time I would like to know just what a persons credit rating has to do with, with him being a security risk. A job that you may have been doing for 20 plus years and , Say you made some bad investments and lost a long drawn out lawsuit and you file bankruptcy and and of a sudden you a security risk. That is BUL# SH#T. And always will be.

[JustinHEMI05]

Thanks for the help. I'm talking about a small amount of debt... under 10,000 for sure. if i show that i am in good standing with my creditors and efforts have been made towards cleaning it up will that be good enough?

Yes I think you will be fine provided;

1) You really are in good standing with your creditors.
2) You disclose everything about each debt.
3) You continue to make a good faith effort at clearing your debt because if you stop once you are in, they will get you.

It may delay the clearing a bit, but otherwise you shouldn't have a problem.

Justin

[watson4]

In this economy and time I would like to know just what a persons credit rating has to do with, with him being a security risk. A job that you may have been doing for 20 plus years and , Say you made some bad investments and lost a long drawn out lawsuit and you file bankruptcy and and of a sudden you a security risk. That is BUL# SH#T. And always will be.

The point is that you are at risk for selling information to pay off your bad debt...