Credit Check Superthread- Merged Topics

[Goober]

Just be honest to the recruiters, and make arrangements with all your creditors, and you should be fine. The CF doesn't want creditors calling them looking for you.

There are a few threads with some good info, my personal experience is in this thread http://army.ca/forums/threads/21122.0.html

 

[buff1]

Hello everyone.  I wrote the CFAT 2 days ago and passed.  I am in the process of gathering the required information.  Also, I am in bankruptcy.  Yesterday I had to meet with my trustee and I asked her how this bankruptcy would affect my application.  I told her I heard it could stop my entry into the Forces.  What she told me was that she found that odd because she has had people go to her on the advice of the recruiting center to file an application for bankruptcy to clear their debt so that they could enter the Forces with a clean slate.

 

[putz]

I was in the same boat too.  If you are an undischarged bankrupt it is looked upon as a legal obligation and will stop your application until you provide proof of your discharge.  Also, if you don't tell recruiting they will find oput anyway when theydo your enhanced reliabilty check.  All I had to do was get my trustee to write a letter stating I was discharged and teh date of my discharge from bankruptcy and it was all okay.  Get this letter anyway because sometimes it will take awhile for your credit bureau to get updated.

 

[buff1]

I am not discharged yet though.  I am hoping that at the very least, my application will be put on hold until I get the discharge. 

 

[buff1]

I spoke to the recruiting office and they said it could take up to one year for the whole application process so....they said the bankruptcy may not even have any effect on my application what-so-ever!

 

[eap]

i just talked to recruiting and they told me, i have just been discharged from bankruptcy myself, that it brought my mp score in reliability from l.5 to 0.

 

[drive2live]

my friend is currently in the army he has loans as well as credit cards phone bills cable bills you name it he's got it and most of them are at collection, when he applied to the army about 4 years ago the Recruiter asked him about his money situation, and he told him that he could not afford to pay his bills , and that was one of his reasons for joining the army, so he could pay off his bills,and straighten out his life. He is a engineer and has been in gagetown for about 3 years/heading to afgan for a six month tour in august. so for people that are worried about there credit dont be , just be honest- dont lie, its what i did and i was put on the merit list in mar/05

 

[kincanucks]

my friend is currently in the army he HAS loans as well as credit cards phone bills cable bills you name it he's got it and most of them are at collection

VS

one of his reasons for joining the army, so he could pay off his bills,and straighten out his life

Not doing too well at that is he? Or have you confused your tenses?

 

[drive2live]

that was when he joined 4 years ago, he just bought a new house in gagetown , he has a 2004 GM gt pickup. a 2003 cbr 600 so i would say he is doing a pretty good job.

 

[kincanucks]

that was when he joined 4 years ago, he just bought a new house in gagetown , he has a 2004 GM gt pickup. a 2003 cbr 600 so i would say he is doing a pretty good job.

Okay, so allow me rephrase your original post so that it is a little clearer:

When my friend applied to the army about four years ago, the Recruiter asked him about his money situation and he told him that he could not afford to pay his bills and that was one of his reasons for joining the army, so he could pay off his bills and straighten out his life.  He had loans as well as credit cards, phone bills and cable bills, you name it he had it and most of them were at collection.  Currently he is an engineer and has been in Gagetown for about three years and is on his way to Afghanistan for a six month tour in August.  So for people that are worried about their credit, don't be.  Just be honest and don't lie.  That is what I did and I was put on the merit list in Mar/05.

I would also like to add some further clarification so that others who may read this will not get the wrong idea.  If you have substantial debt load that has gone to collection and you have not made a concerted effort to address that debt load or if you have declared bankruptcy and that bankruptcy has not been discharged, you will not satisfy the eligibility requirement of having an approved Enhanced Reliability Check and you will not be merit listed or enrolled into the CF until you have done so.  Addressing your debt load can be as simple as contacting the creditors or collection agencies and making some arrangements to begin the repayments of those debts.  Some people will now say that they need to join the CF so that they will have a job to pay off their debts and my response is that the CF is not a social services agency and we do not want you if you are not reliable.  Cheers.

Note: he just bought a new house in gagetown , he has a 2004 GM gt pickup. a 2003 cbr 600 so i would say he is doing a pretty good job..  I hope your friend is not heading down a slippery slope again.

 

[drive2live]

i do agree with that for sure, i think the army has helped him learn responsibility. i am going to the army to accomplish something in life and to help the world in the best way i could think of. I have live on my own sense i was 16, I graduated high school and i also have 2 degrees, so i feel i am very responsible. can i ask if you are in the army? if so what do you do, i had read in other forms that you give great advice so keep up the good work,

 

[the 48th regulator]

i do agree with that for sure, i think the army has helped him learn responsibility. i am going to the army to accomplish something in life and to help the world in the best way i could think of. I have live on my own sense i was 16, I graduated high school and i also have 2 degrees, so i feel i am very responsible. can i ask if you are in the army? if so what do you do, i had read in other forms that you give great advice so keep up the good work,

Hi

Don't need to break from the thread, two degrees in what?  Reading some of your posts , I find that hard to believe.

Honesty mate, is the key.  Otherwise you will find people, especially on this board, will refuse to interact with you.

I also suggest that you may want to add more to your profile.  Give us a bit of a background who you are.

dileas

tess

 

[aesop081]

Don't need to break from the thread, two degrees in what?   Reading some of your posts , I find that hard to believe.

English major...... ;D

 

[drive2live]

I just entered this site for some info, I do not need to be criticized, I find some people are just here to criticize and are not using this site for its proper perpose, don't just read the forums to find things to nag and complain about use them for the right reasons, my back ground is simple, graduated 2001, went to college- got a bachelor of arts.-got a teacher's aid diploma- after that i have just been working, in Feb i applied to the army-April-18 got merit listed, now I'm just waiting,

p.s remember what your mothers use to say "if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all" shouldn't have to say that we are all adults. :

 

[Island Ryhno]

I think what everyone is saying is do not exaggerate! You're claiming to have two degrees, one of which is a B.A. and another as a TA. We are supposing that you did your degrees in an english speaking environment. Having read only the two posts you've made here, it tells that your spelling and grammar and not quite up to snuff. I may be wrong, but from someone who has been in post secondary education since the beginning of time (or so it seems) you should or would need to be able to spell even the most rudimentary of words. Thus far you have not qualified your statement.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

OK, we'll call it quits here and now. The point has been made on both sides. The original post was answered by kincanucks, that put it in perspective from the Recruiter's point of view. No need to carry this on further. Drive2live, if you feel this thread needs to be reopened, you can PM me.

 

[0007]

I have read a few posts where recruiters have asked for proof of how potential recruits were handling their student debts. The first interview I had, this was barely raised; the interviewer asked if I had any problems paying and I said no - and that was it! Does this question always come up, and was asking for proof a new thing? I am having difficulties handling a 40,000 student debt and I don't think I would have the problem with a career in the military - seems like a catch-22. What is the story on this? Is proof of student debt payment now a regular thing? What are they looking for, Boy Scouts and Sunday School teachers?

 

[Wookilar]

It used to be a major part of the application process. It's not so much a problem now though. Reason for the debt question is basically, they need to know if you can pay your debts with the limited pay that you will be getting over the first couple of years. That is not so much of a problem since the SCONDVA hearings and we got some much needed (and fairly massive) pay raises about '96 (or so). Back when, a 1st year Private only made 14k, Pvt 1 = 19k, Pvt 2 = 22k, Pvt 3 = 28k (or something like that, I was on the pay freeze then so I didn't really see any of that).
Now, Pvt fresh out of basic makes, what, 24k first year? Cpl basic sits at around 44k.
Bottom line is, the CF doesn't want you to be an "administrative burden" right from the very start. As long as you can prove that you can pay your existing debts in the pay scale you will be earning (as well as normal living expenses), you will not have a problem. Good Luck.

 

[0007]

Thanks for the quick reply! I feel relieved to hear that. The last thing I need is another set back. I think the pay for DEO should be more than adequate to pay off my debts, I was more worried about the powers that be looking into my payment history and seeing that it was off and on payments since I graduated (which was ok with Quebec gov't). Thanks again.

 

[kincanucks]

If your debt has reached collections and comes up as a credit hit during the background check then it becomes a very serious issue that you will have to provide proof that you are addressing.

seems like a catch-22. What is the story on this? Is proof of student debt payment now a regular thing? What are they looking for, Boy Scouts and Sunday School teachers?

I love hearing this from an applicant "I can't pay my debts unless you give me a job"  Too bad because the CF is not Social Services and people who can't pay their debts or make a reasonable effort to do so are unreliable and unreliable people are a security concern.  No we don't want Boy Scouts and Sunday School teachers but we certainly don't want unreliable people.  If there is a credit hit and you are satisfactorily addressing your debt load, either through credit assistance or by paying it off regularly, then there will be no problem.  If there is no credit hit and the interviewer is satisfied with your responses on the financial part of the interview there will be no problem.  Good luck