Credit report...

[SuperWoda]

So I went to see the recruiter today walk in say hi and asks me i guess the standard barrage of questions age have i done drugs etc. Than he asks hows my credit. Tell him not that great *being unemployeed for 10 months doesnt friggin help either* and he asks if im in collections which i am for 2 things one which is total bs and I wont ever pay... After I informed him of that he basically told me the USAF wont take me. Now my question is do they really run a credit report I felt stupid to ask after he told me all of that so just need to know if I could goto a different recruiter and lie about my credit

[Cobra5]

If you lie to a recruiter and they find out you will be dishonorably discharged and can be charged with crimes. Take care of your credit situation first.

[SuperWoda]

Gah thats such Bullshit my credit score doesnt dictate my work ethic or qualifications to join, are country is so ass backwards :/

[Cobra5]

No it doesnt, but it does indicate financial responsibility and in the military we issue you a Government Travel Card for travel on TDY, so we need to make sure you are responsible. Just get it cleared up and then you are good to go.

[scott12345]

I had credit problems when I enlisted about 8 years ago. I was really stupid and charged a lot of money to credit cards when I was 18-19 and never paid them. When I went to enlist the recruiter told me that I had to get it taken care of. I called the collection agencies and settled my debt for about 25% of the balances. I went back to the recruiter and everything was fine.

On a side note though, when I went through my security clearance, I was permanently PRP decertified due to finincial irresponsibilty. Basically means I can never work with, around or even near nukes. I can also never become an officer (I tried after completing my degree and there is a block on the form that actually says "cannot be permanently PRP decertified"). I tried to get it removed but that did not work.

I doubt that the military will grant you a Top Secret either, but that depends on how bad you are in debt and how late your stuff is.

I am not really positive about how all this works now.

[SuperWoda]

Well my total bad debt is as follows

I defaulted on one of student loans of like 1900 bucks
cable company has me in collections for 500 because they didnt cancel my service when I told them too
and a 200 dollar verizon bill which im disputing after 3 friggin years :/
and 1 credit card of like 500 bucks

I can maybe agree to something with the credit card and i hope ill talk with someone from the cable company to get there heads out of their asses :/

The student loan guys dunno wtf to do with them and its been 3 years with shity verizon i doubt iut will ever be settled....

Been unemployeed for 10 months due to lay offs almost thinking to declare bankruptcy :/ but dunno how the AF would like that

[scott12345]

I wouldn't declare bankruptcy over 3000 dollars but I am no lawyer. When I had to take care of stuff I just called and made an offer to the companies. I had a 2000 dollar balance on one credit card and I asked if they would take 500 bucks and, to my surprise, they said yes. If your stuff is in collections it is usually easier to settle it. But like I said before, I did all this about 8 to 9 years ago. I am not sure how the military looks at settling debt now.

[fufu]

Are you seriously saying you can't get a job...........anywhere? If you wanted a job to fix your credit, you'd get a job....even if it was McDs.

[SuperWoda]

Trust me when i say AZ's job market is a living hell at the moment went to college have cisco certifications was a very successful network consultant and now cant even get a shity job at a telemarketing position its just bad out here

[TJMAC77SP]

As stated above the credit issue will cause problems with ANY security clearance and there aren't many jobs in the AF that do not require at least a Secret clearance.

If the student loans are federal that is a particularly sticky issue as the feds tend to be rather punitive when you don't pay them back.

[SuperWoda]

That is so frickin wrong maybe employers and the military hasn't noticed how shity the economy is at the moment I doubt there are many people with even decent credit at this point let alone good credit :/

[Battleshort]

That is so frickin wrong maybe employers and the military hasn't noticed how shity the economy is at the moment I doubt there are many people with even decent credit at this point let alone good credit :/

A shitty economy is not result of piss-poor personal financial responsibility. Pay your debt and you'll be good to go.

[SuperWoda]

Going from 60k a year to 0k for 10months kinda doesnt help pay bills and debt now does it :/

[Battleshort]

How many PT jobs are you working now?

[SuperWoda]

None there is no work, well there is obviously but even ghetto temp jobs are being flooded with typically older people with alot more experience. Trust me when I say being unemployeed sucks and a veyr long and consistent effort has been made which is why I was turning to the military in the first place

[Battleshort]

None there is no work, well there is obviously but even ghetto temp jobs are being flooded with typically older people with alot more experience. Trust me when I say being unemployeed sucks and a veyr long and consistent effort has been made which is why I was turning to the military in the first place

Please define.

[SuperWoda]

The local fast food places havent been hiring have tried any sales job from retail to telemarketing to doing collections. Have even tried for a few off the wall jobs in industrial type jobs which i have no experience with anyways. The only job in the past 10 months I was offered was to work for Aflac but I would need to be licensed first which kind of defeats the point of taking the job sense at the time I didnt have the money to even try to get the insurance license

[Battleshort]

Thanks. For a second there, I thought that you were referring to jobs that are beneath you.

[NRTrackChamp2004]

you're currently just SOL.

Pay your damn debt, then join. You do what you gotta do. You got yourself in this situation, so quite bitching about it, and saying the AF is retarded for not taking you because you're not financially responsible. Financial responsibility says a lot about someone, regardless of what you may think.

Mow lawns, sell lemonade, try contracting. There are plenty of jobs that you can do, you just gotta go look for them. They might not be what you want, like, or even pay enough, but, its better than nothing.

You have a car? thats not too old? Why not sell that and pay off your debt? You wont have a car, but, your debt will be paid and then the AF will take you. And with going through your basic training and schooling, you wont even need a car then, so, that way you can save money for a cheap car when you actually need one. But, I know guys who've been in the military for years with no vehicle. Yeah, it might suck, but, you do what you gotta do.

[TJMAC77SP]

For what its worth, I can sympathize with being out of work. I went through six months in 2006 and seriously couldn't get hired anywhere (even Target, Wal-Mart and K-mart weren't interested). I suppose I should have lied about my resume (listed some minimum wage jobs, never in the military, HS diploma only)

Anyway, I am not so quick to judge those out of work nowadays.

[SuperWoda]

you're currently just SOL.

Pay your damn debt, then join. You do what you gotta do. You got yourself in this situation, so quite bitching about it, and saying the AF is retarded for not taking you because you're not financially responsible. Financial responsibility says a lot about someone, regardless of what you may think.

Mow lawns, sell lemonade, try contracting. There are plenty of jobs that you can do, you just gotta go look for them. They might not be what you want, like, or even pay enough, but, its better than nothing.

You have a car? thats not too old? Why not sell that and pay off your debt? You wont have a car, but, your debt will be paid and then the AF will take you. And with going through your basic training and schooling, you wont even need a car then, so, that way you can save money for a cheap car when you actually need one. But, I know guys who've been in the military for years with no vehicle. Yeah, it might suck, but, you do what you gotta do.

For being 22 years old Im pretty exceptional I'd like to think financially had enough money to stay afloat this long. And car heh it was repo'd 3 weeks ago. Financially irresponsibility is if i took a credit card with 10k and blew it on stupid shit or bought a porchse when I cant afford one. Being a victum of a shit economy isn't being irresponsible. Also I wasn't Bitching about my situation rather seeing what others have done or to find out if the AF actully does a credit check not to insight your dickishness

[NRTrackChamp2004]

For being 22 years old Im pretty exceptional I'd like to think financially had enough money to stay afloat this long. And car heh it was repo'd 3 weeks ago. Financially irresponsibility is if i took a credit card with 10k and blew it on stupid shit or bought a porchse when I cant afford one. Being a victum of a shit economy isn't being irresponsible. Also I wasn't Bitching about my situation rather seeing what others have done or to find out if the AF actully does a credit check not to insight your dickishness
If you were exceptional, you wouldnt have gotten into this situation. I don't care how you wanna look at your situation, your bills werent paid, no one cares about the excuse you wanna use, cause in this day and age were everyone and their mother is unemployed, it doesnt matter, your bills werent paid, so that qualifies as financial irresponsible. You should been responsible enough to figure out how you were gonna pay your bills. Period.

Why didnt you file for unemployment? If you had such a good like you say you did, making 60k, you should have filed for unemployment. Unless you didnt work long enough in your "good job"? Cause you have have to work 2 full calender quarters, which is pretty much 6 full months, and make so much money to qualify.

[SuperWoda]

If you were exceptional, you wouldnt have gotten into this situation. I don't care how you wanna look at your situation, your bills werent paid, no one cares about the excuse you wanna use, cause in this day and age were everyone and their mother is unemployed, it doesnt matter, your bills werent paid, so that qualifies as financial irresponsible. You should been responsible enough to figure out how you were gonna pay your bills. Period.

Why didnt you file for unemployment? If you had such a good like you say you did, making 60k, you should have filed for unemployment. Unless you didnt work long enough in your "good job"? Cause you have have to work 2 full calender quarters, which is pretty much 6 full months, and make so much money to qualify.

Two things for you. One unemployment doesn't last forever.
and two sense you clearly have a sense of financial superiority, if you had bills no money and was unemployed for 10 months how the fuck would you pay your bills and debt with no money explain this to me because you must have some magical gift to shit money

[NRTrackChamp2004]

Unemployment lasts atleast 6 months I believe, some states longer, and most are able to extend when that times runs up.

First off, I would never be unemployed for 10 months. And even if I were unemployed, I'd atleast find ways to make money with odd jobs or something. Its bad enough when people claim they cant find a job, but its f'kin pathetic when people cant even make money. I don't shit money. I make it, by working. How about you hop off your fucking computer/internet and start looking for a job?

[SuperWoda]

The military has given you a clear sense of a delusional world on how the 21st century works in civilian aspect of America, Ill leave it at that arguing with someone so ignorant is beneath me.

As a FYI people find jobs with computers maybe the marines didnt teach you that

[NRTrackChamp2004]

Oh yeah, because I dont see civilians on my off days, when I go out in town? Because my family arent civilians? Or even because my dad is infact unemployed too, and on unemployment? I know just as much about the civilian life as you do, because guess what, I was a civilian at one point.

Of course people find jobs with their computer, because everything and everyone is so "hi-tech" these days. I bet you've been looking on the computer the whole 10 months havent you? Guess what, not every motherf'ker is gonna post their job opening on the f'kin internet. Get your godd*** ass out the house and look for a job the old fashion way you lazy f***!!!!!!!!

[SuperWoda]

Lazy? Wow so not only are you ignorant and have your head so far up your ass it's unbelievable now you think you know people that you have never meet, kudos on your continuation of your moronic comments

[NRTrackChamp2004]

and you havent made ignorant comments about me and assuming what I know?

I'm through with you.

[LEBS27]

Lots of arguing and blame passing back and forth. Before I make my own comment I will say that I do financial counseling, I have a bachelor's degree in finance, I have gotten over my head in debt before, I've been unemployed a couple of times, I've declared chapter 7 bankruptcy in the past, I currently have a Secret clearance in the Army and my direct commission has been accepted so I will be an officer next month.

Having said all that - yes, we've had a rough economy lately. Some areas of the country are worse than others. Still, the econony is NOT so bad that one can't find a job if they make that their job. No, generally you don't find much work using your computer. Jobs are found networking with others, personalized communication and face-to-face meetings. Soooooo many people submit resumes online that you are simply joining thousands of other "plain vanilla" resumes. It's simply the luck of the draw. You HAVE to be different (not weird, just different) to stand out and be noticed. Read Dan Miller's book, "48 Days to the Work You Love".

Secondly, and don't think I'm trashing your intelligence - you have to improve your grammer and spelling skills. If your posts are anything like you normally write, then it reflects poorly on yourself. Be concious of how you write and speak - you will give off a better impression of yourself.

Third, bad economy or not many people got themselves into their own financial mess. Many, many Americans spend more than they make on a regular basis. Little, if any, money is set aside in savings for emergencies. We live just on the edge financially all the time. I know, I was there and I've talked with many people that have lived that way. No, you didn't go out and get a $10k credit card and blow it on stupid stuff or buy an exotic car. But if you were making $60k, I'll bet you were spending $70k. Or you were spending $59k and when an "emergency" came up - you charged it. The better thing to do (once you get a job) is to set aside $500-$1,000 in the bank for a real emergency (Christmas is NOT an emergency - I happens every year at the same time). Then start paying off that debt - negotiate down what you can & pay it off as fast as possible. Someone else was right - this isn't enough money to make bankruptcy worthwhile.

Finally, yes the military will take you with a poor financial history (don't know about the AF). While they want to know (and will find out) are all the gory details about your financial past. But the real guage of their approval or not is how are you doing now. Like I said, I did a chapter 7 bankruptcy. But when the Army found that it was from a failed business and that I has current on my personal bills, living within my means, and being responsible, they let my security clearance go through.

I'll also say this - and take it for how I mean it - grow up and get some thicker skin. Honestly, I mean this in a sincere way. You're young and you got yourself into a mess which was amplified by the economy. You really have no one to blame but yourself. If you join the military you will have to get used to people to telling you like it is - not how you want to hear it. Learn from this experience and move ahead as a wiser and more mature person.

[SuperWoda]

Leb, yes grammer on the internet has never been a skill I evolved very far :P
Also yes I'm aware that networking helps alot in the job market and in life in general, having said that I am only 22 and I have not made alot of benefitial connections. It also didn't help that the few that I had were all in the same field (Telecommunications) which hasn't been doing well.

On the bright side at least it is good to know that having bad credit may not automatically screw me for security clearance as I want to go in as communications - networks and such and to my knowledge they require top secret (correct me if I'm wrong folks)

[Shaken1976]

Well my total bad debt is as follows

I defaulted on one of student loans of like 1900 bucks
cable company has me in collections for 500 because they didnt cancel my service when I told them too
and a 200 dollar verizon bill which im disputing after 3 friggin years :/
and 1 credit card of like 500 bucks

I can maybe agree to something with the credit card and i hope ill talk with someone from the cable company to get there heads out of their asses :/

The student loan guys dunno wtf to do with them and its been 3 years with shity verizon i doubt iut will ever be settled....

Been unemployeed for 10 months due to lay offs almost thinking to declare bankruptcy :/ but dunno how the AF would like that


I don't know if you have done this yet or not but if you have legitimate issues with whether you owe something or not then you should go to www.annualcreditreport.com You can go free once a year. It will give you one from each of the three major companies. I suggest using one at a time throughout the year. On there you can dispute different things on your credit report. I had something from T-Mobile on mine and I never had T-Mobile. I disputed and it was removed. I also found something on there from a few years back. I owed a water company like $27.

Now onto other questions.... Have you looked elsewhere besides where you live for a job? How are you living right now? Do you go to the library to use the internet? or are you paying for that somehow? I would be doing whatever it took to get some money coming in (within reason... not gonna prostitute myself ;) ) Have you picked up a newspaper and made phone calls to everyone on there?? I also saw that your car had been repo'd. You will owe the difference between what you owed and what they sell the vehicle for. Add that to what you owe.

Also you said you had been unemployed for 10 months but how old are the bills? I know you said one was three years old. So I am sorry to say that having an outstanding bill for three years does shoe financial irresponsibility.

[SuperWoda]

Well some bills are from lack of being responsible such as one of my student loans that was just carelessness on my end. But than i have a debt from april because i wasn't able to pay my final months rent.

No I havent looked for a job outside of the area I live now, currently living with my mother which I detest so very much. :/

As far as money goes I'm going to see if debt consolidation can clear the slate persay as far as being "out" of collections if so Ill do that and maybe sell some things to make a payment or two so I can join.

[Berry5711]

I am just going to throw my 2 cents in here.

First off get your money straight yourself. I have seen so many people turn to debt consolidation and get screwed hardcore. My sister is a great example. She got a debt consolidation company to get $19,000 in debt down to $12,000. Well 3 years later after fees/interest/etc. She ended up paying $22,000. Remember debt consolidation is basically a loan and since you don't own anything to use against the loan you can expect a very high interest rate. All I'm saying is do research on these.

It just sounds like you want the easy way out with your debt. You said you have a bill with verizon for the last three years? Take them to small claims court, it may cost you $50 to file, but chances are they won't show and you will get a default judgement getting out of the bill and clearing it from your credit. Worst case with this? You are out $50 and lost the case (highly unlikely though). I used this tactic to get out of a bill with Tmobile and overdraft fees from my bank. I saved around $1400 and spent $100 to file for two small claims cases.

There are a lot of options out there for you, but there is no easy button. It takes you to pay off debt.

And as far as money w/ the military goes, your money situation is a huge deal to them. If you have a lot of debt and can't afford it you are a bigger risk. Why? You are more apt to take bribes for information, sell military gear, etc.

If you do get in though look into a bill called The Soliders and Sailors relief act (I think that is what it is called). Any loans you have before you join have to be put down to a fix rate of 6%. I think you have to be deployed for it, but it is still a great deal. Anyways, best of luck to you.

[LEBS27]

If you do get in though look into a bill called The Soliders and Sailors relief act (I think that is what it is called). Any loans you have before you join have to be put down to a fix rate of 6%. I think you have to be deployed for it, but it is still a great deal. Anyways, best of luck to you.

It is the ServiceMember's Civil Relief Act of 2003. Yes, for new servicemembers it will reduce all interest rates to 6% (does not apply to loans AFTER enlisting). If you're a "weekend warrior", then this will apply if you are activated/mobilized to active duty status.

[Berry5711]

It is the ServiceMember's Civil Relief Act of 2003. Yes, for new servicemembers it will reduce all interest rates to 6% (does not apply to loans AFTER enlisting). If you're a "weekend warrior", then this will apply if you are activated/mobilized to active duty status.

That's the one. Before I deployed the first time I used this on a credit card (I got it after I joined) and a car loan (after I joined). The credit card lowered my rate to 6% no questions, then I spoke to Chase (my car loan) and they told me it was for loans before I joined. I had the 6% rate on my card till I paid it off, error in my favor.

[Silver Fox]

Should've gone to FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE CREDIT report.com
You could've seen this coming at you like an atom bomb!

[silkywilky]

freecreditreport.com is nothing but a rip off. They only give you a freee report on condition that you "purchase" their service for one thing or another. Annual credit report on the other hand is totaly free.