From: OCPA
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 10:39 AM
To: creditscoring.com
Cc: Janelle Guthrie, Rob McKenna, Kristin Alexander, State of Washington Attorney General
Subject: RE: [BULK] RE: credit score, employers, security clearance
Greg
We don't utilize credit scores. However, we do look at credit reports,
as well as subject interviews--if applicable, so we can make financial
determinations as outlined immediately below. That does not make the
statement "a poor credit score can disqualify you for a government
security clearance" wrong. If there are conditions that raise a
security concern, a poor credit score would probably follow.
Beth Alber
Office of Communications
Defense Security Service
GUIDELINE F: FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
18. The Concern. Failure or inability to live within one's means,
satisfy debts, and meet financial obligations may indicate poor
self-control, lack of judgment, or unwillingness to abide by rules and
regulations, all of which can raise questions about an individual's
reliability, trustworthiness and ability to protect classified
information. An individual who is financially overextended is at risk of
having to engage in illegal acts to generate funds. Compulsive gambling
is a concern as it may lead to financial crimes including espionage.
Affluence that cannot be explained by known sources of income is also a
security concern. It may indicate proceeds from financially profitable
criminal acts.
19. Conditions that could raise a security concern and may be
disqualifying include:
(a) inability or unwillingness to satisfy debts;
(b) indebtedness caused by frivolous or irresponsible spending and the
absence of any evidence of willingness or intent to pay the debt or
establish a realistic plan to pay the debt.
(c) a history of not meeting financial obligations;
(d) deceptive or illegal financial practices such as embezzlement,
employee theft, check fraud, income tax evasion, expense account fraud,
filing deceptive loan statements, and other intentional financial
breaches of trust;
(e) consistent spending beyond one's means, which may be indicated by
excessive indebtedness, significant negative cash flow, high
debt-to-income ratio, and/or other financial analysis;
(f) financial problems that are linked to drug abuse, alcoholism,
gambling problems, or other issues of security concern.
(g) failure to file annual Federal, state, or local income tax returns
as required or the fraudulent filing of the same;
(h) unexplained affluence, as shown by a lifestyle or standard of
living, increase in net worth, or money transfers that cannot be
explained by subject's known legal sources of income;
(i) compulsive or addictive gambling as indicated by an unsuccessful
attempt to stop gambling, "chasing losses" (i.e. increasing the bets or
returning another day in an effort to get even), concealment of gambling
losses, borrowing money to fund gambling or pay gambling debts, family
conflict or other problems caused by gambling.
20. Conditions that could mitigate security concerns include:
(a) the behavior happened so long ago, was so infrequent, or occurred
under such circumstances that it is unlikely to recur and does not cast
doubt on the individual's current reliability, trustworthiness, or good
judgment;
(b) the conditions that resulted in the financial problem were largely
beyond the person's control (e.g. loss of employment, a business
downturn, unexpected medical emergency, or a death, divorce or
separation), and the individual acted responsibly under the
circumstances;
(c) the person has received or is receiving counseling for the problem
and/or there are clear indications that the problem is being resolved or
is under control;
(d) the individual initiated a good-faith effort to repay overdue
creditors or otherwise resolve debts;
(e) the individual has a reasonable basis to dispute the legitimacy of
the past-due debt which is the cause of the problem and provides
documented proof to substantiate the basis of the dispute or provides
evidence of actions to resolve the issue;
(f) the affluence resulted from a legal source of income.
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