Can I get a TS clearance with bad credit?
Imperfect financial circumstances, such as bad credit scores, can have a negative influence on your application and potentially cause your security clearance to be denied. However, the dollar amount associated with your financial troubles is usually less important than the reasons behind your financial situation.
Do they check your credit for a security clearance?
Credit scores are not specifically mentioned in the Code of Regulations as being examined by the Diplomatic Security Service. So when it comes to obtaining your security clearance, there isn’t a clear “cut off” point or range for acceptable credit scores.
Can you get a top secret clearance with debt?
While it is generally conceded that excessive debt is a cause for denying security clearances, no branch of the military has a set amount of debt that will result in being denied. That is considered an excessive amount of debt, but not a disqualifying amount unless the debt has been delinquent for some time.
What disqualifies you for a secret clearance?
Top secret clearance holders must have no significant financial concerns. If the background check reveals a considerable amount of debt, missed payments, tax evasion, collection judgments, check fraud, foreclosures, embezzlement or bankruptcies, your application might be rejected.
What is considered a bad credit score?
The VantageScore credit scoring model also has a range between 300 to 850. However, according to this model, a credit score below 661 isn’t good. Scores between 601 to 660 are considered fair. Anything below that range is considered poor or bad (500 to 600) or very poor (300 to 499).
Is it hard to get a secret clearance?
Obtaining a security clearance is no easy task, and not everyone who applies will be granted access. Stringent suitability requirements, particularly in the intelligence community, weed out many unqualified applicants before they ever reach security clearance processing.
Can my spouse credit affect my security clearance?
Your spouse being behind on debt payments does not have to kill your chances of obtaining a security clearance. If none of the accounts in your own name show a poor credit history or delinquency, then your spouse’s poor credit will not likely affect your security clearance application.
How much debt disqualify you from the military?
Excessive debt obligations that exceed half of the annual salary of the pay grade of the recruit can prevent enlistment. If debt includes mortgage debt, the total debt must not be more than two-and-a-half times the annual salary of the recruit.
What is considered excessive debt?
When you struggle to make monthly payments, you’re likely hitting your debt capacity. How much debt is a lot? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recommends you keep your debt-to-income ratio below 43%. Statistically speaking, people with debts exceeding 43 percent often have trouble making their monthly payments.