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army wife · Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:39 pm Subject: Military and settlement?

Is anyone on this forum military (active or reserves) and are currently or have done debt settlement?

I was reading on other sites that settlement could cause a soldier to lose his/her security clearance.

Anyone have experience in this area?

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 10:04 pm Subject: debt

Hello..........I'm in the Army Reserves. I use to be Active Army. The answer is NO......doing some kind of debt settlement will NOT cause a Military memeber to lose a Security Clearance. Something like DUI's on a driving record, convictions of some kind, etc. ...that kind of thing. I hope this puts your mind at ease.

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 10:07 pm Subject: debt

...I do want to add, however.........do ALOT of research on debt settlement companies. Look on the BBB ratings and see what the BBB 'rates' them. Can you give me some information on what you need to settle? ALOT of people, on this forum, have helped others settle debts themselves. That way, you're not paying out of pocket costs and you will get more familiar with your credit.

Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:56 pm Subject:

I'm not related to Military, but have extreme respect for them. Nice to have you in our forum Madam. I have no first hand experience in this area. But as far I can gather information through googling is: -
It can lower your debt by 40 to 60% and your debt can be settled within a period of 1 to 3 years.

You may go through the following links: -
Military family: Bankruptcy or debt settlement

In real deep...

Other members may help you more.

Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 9:46 am Subject: debt

I think you for your comment. I served in the Army ( Active and Reserves) for 12 years. It's been an experience.............I've really 'grown' in alot of ways. I'm a single mom nd I work full time. Also.............did a 'tour' in Kwaitt and Iraq. Thank you, again, for your comment.

Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 10:09 am Subject:

That's not necessarily true. My Father is a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy and he has seen many of times where people had their security clearance yanked for having bad credit. If you are in the military and are considering doing debt settlement I strongly suggest you speak with your commanding officer first. I can almost guarantee you he is not going to be thrilled that you are going into a program that your accounts to go delinquent. Army wife , are your bills are ready delinquent ? I suggest you look into a debt management Plan with a non-profit credit counseling Agency.

army wife · Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 5:33 pm Subject:

How would the CO know about bad credit? That's what I can't figure out. Heck, we would have bad credit now since being so high in debt. Makes no sense.

Husband is an officer in the reserves and will likely deploy in the next 6-9 months. Has a good civilian job as do I. Bills are current due to taking out a 401K loan to assist.

CC debt runs close to 140K due to many things but including two international adoptions. Cards are Amex (2 of them, highest balances), BofA, Chase, Capital One, and Citibank.

We could put 3K per month toward a settlement program and be done in 2-2.5 yrs.

We can likely muddle through for a while especially with tax returns coming soon. With a deployment, we'll have extra income which will help too.

Looked at a dmp but one would not work with Amex and the other wanted payments higher than our usual minimums.

So, we're stuck. We can muddle through with payments perhaps late at times but hopefully not more than 30 days, get caught up again at tax time/deployment, or look at settlement. We have a child heading for college in the fall so that plays into it to.

Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 10:36 pm Subject: debt

I agree, ARMY WIVE.............that DOESN'T make sense to me, either. A few people, in my unit, ( I know for a fact, because they've spoken to me..) are starting to file for BK. Their Security Clearances were just fine. However........I know someone who has GREAT credit, however, has DUI's on his driving record...........HIS Security Clearance was 'denied'. Not trying to make a 'big thing' about this. Also...........I want to add, when I was deployed to Kwaitt/Iraq, I started a debt consolidation program ( din't work out..) but, that din't have ANY effect on my Security Clearance.

Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 7:41 am Subject:

I think it is dependant on what type of job your husband has in the military. You have free legal. Use the lawyers.

Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:31 am Subject:

All it takes is a phone call from the creditor to his commanding officer and the commanding officer has the authority to make you pay them. For that reason the settlement company I work for will not even allow a person in the military to enroll unless they have the commanding officer sign off on it. 99 times out of 100 the CO never allows them to do debt settlement. I agree with FYI. Talk to a military lawyer to verify what I am telling you.

Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:21 pm Subject: debt

I don't mean to start an arguement here, but, why, ON EARTH, would my Commanding Officier worry about OUR credit?! I've never heard about THAT before. Actually......I DID have a CA call my unit. 'My' ISG, of the company told them if they called there again, 'my' ISG would go through the 'chain of command' and have the CA sued for harrassment. So, again, why on earth would you say that? A few people, in my unit ( as I said before..) filed for BK. When you apply for a Security Clearance, your credit is not checked. I've been in the milirat a LONG time...I know. I just wonder where you get your information.

Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:27 pm Subject: debt

I ALSO want to add that the debt settlement companies, that I HAVE looked into ( decided not to go through them..however..) could care less whether or not someone serves in the military. It won't 'disqualify' you from using their sevices.

Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 12:40 am Subject:

I'm a bit perplexed after reading the above discussion. I, sort of, agree with Sdchargers. Why should a credit problem pose a threat to security clearance?

I have googled and found the following information: -

security clearance definition

This above information forces me to grope in the dark and wonder, how come debt settlement affect one's security clearance?

Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 12:57 am Subject:

I have also found an information which says that Bankruptcy Chapter 13 can affect your security clearance credential. Please go through the link given below: -
debt settlement or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

I'm quite confused. Can someone help me out? In fact, at this juncture I feel that Sdcharger's point is quite strong. But at the same time I feel that it doesn't hurt to consult a lawyer.

Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 3:31 am Subject: debt

I'm not saying that I'm TOTALLY right and everyone else is wrong,.......I'm jusy saying I've never heard of anything like that. Security Clearances are based upon your Criminal Background, warrants, not paying Child Support, Alias, etc. As I said, in the above posts, I know people that were just deployed and they had filed BK's. If someone has found OTHER information, please..inform me. Might be something 'there' that I just don't know. Thanks.

AFGI4Life · Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 10:04 pm Subject: debt

I'm currently active duty military and have been on a debt settlement program for 5 months now. I told my commanding officer about it, just as a heads up. As far as he is concerned it is my perogative and does not concern him. He nor the military can make me pay any debts unless they are military affiliated such as the military STAR card. My wages cannot be garnished nor can my security clearance be hindered in any way. There are many military families in debt and many enrolled in programs such as freedom debt relief. If the military were to reprimand all of us who are having difficulty there would be no one left to go to war. With divorce rates in the military sky-rocketed and the economy the way it is I would expect many more people will be looking for alternative solutions. thanks

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