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ISCR Case 22-02536 — CASE

Case record

ISCR Case 22-02536

A decided public DOHA case, shown for research — not advice or a prediction.

Case Profile
Decision Date12/7/2023
Statusdenied
LevelHEARING
TypeSTANDARD ISCR
Participants
Applicant Representation: Pro Se
Judge: Candace Le'i Garcia
Government Counsel: John C. Lynch
Case Summary
The applicant in this case was a 35-year-old male, married with four minor children, who had served in the U.S. military and worked for various Department of Defense (DOD) contractors. The Department of Defense issued a Statement of Reasons (SOR) citing security concerns under Guideline F (financial considerations) due to three delinquent consumer debts totaling over $49,000. The applicant admitted to all allegations in the SOR, attributing his financial difficulties to minimal income, relocation costs, and unforeseen medical expenses.
The administrative judge found that the applicant had not provided sufficient evidence to mitigate the financial concerns. Although he claimed to be working with a debt consolidation company and had made efforts to resolve his debts, he failed to provide documentation to support these claims. The judge noted that the applicant's ongoing financial issues, including additional delinquent debts reported in 2023, raised doubts about his reliability and judgment. Consequently, the administrative judge ruled against the applicant, denying his eligibility for access to classified information based on the failure to mitigate the financial considerations security concerns.
Guidelines Evaluated
- Guideline EPersonal Conduct · Against Applicant
- Guideline FFinancial Considerations · Against Applicant
Similar decisions
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Case Headnote

ISCR Case No. 22-02536

deniedDec 7, 2023· Hon. Candace Le'i Garcia· hearing

Summary

A 35-year-old married applicant with four children was denied a security clearance under Guideline E (Personal Conduct) and Guideline F (Financial Considerations) due to unresolved financial issues. The Statement of Reasons detailed three significant delinquent debts: a charged-off auto loan for $19,347, an apartment rental account in collection for $7,242, and another charged-off loan for $23,146. These issues raised disqualifying conditions under Adjudicative Guideline (AG) ¶ 19(a) and AG ¶ 19(c).

While the applicant attributed his financial distress to various factors, he admitted to the three delinquent debts, which totaled over $49,000. The administrative judge considered mitigating conditions under AG ¶ 20(a), AG ¶ 20(b), AG ¶ 20(c), and AG ¶ 20(d).

However, the applicant failed to provide sufficient documentation to corroborate his efforts to resolve these debts. Consequently, the judge concluded that the ongoing financial problems cast doubt on the applicant's reliability and trustworthiness, leading to the denial of the security clearance.

Why the Applicant Was Denied

The applicant admitted to three significant delinquent debts totaling over $49,000.
He failed to provide documentation to corroborate his efforts to resolve his debts.
The judge found that ongoing financial problems cast doubt on the applicant's reliability and trustworthiness.

Conditions Referenced

Disqualifying

AG ¶ 19(a)raisedInability to Satisfy Debts
AG ¶ 19(c)raisedA History of Not Meeting Financial Obligations

Mitigating

AG ¶ 20(a)rejectedBehavior Happened so Long Ago, Was Infrequent, or Occurred Under Circumstances Unlikely to Recur
AG ¶ 20(b)rejectedConditions Largely Beyond the Person's Control
AG ¶ 20(c)rejectedReceived Financial Counseling From a Legitimate Source
AG ¶ 20(d)rejectedInitiated and Adhered to a Good-faith Effort to Repay Debts

Key Rule Quoted

“Any doubt concerning personnel being considered for access to classified information will be resolved in favor of the national security.”

Procedural Posture

SOR issuedFeb 28, 2023
Answer filedMar 15, 2023
Hearing held—Decided on the written record.
Decision dateDec 7, 2023

Cite For

Failure to Mitigate Financial Considerations Under Guideline F
Impact of Unresolved Debts on Security Clearance Eligibility
Importance of Providing Corroborative Evidence in Financial Cases

Editorial summary generated for research. Not legal advice; not a prediction. Verify against the full decision before relying on any quoted language.

Standardized Decision Profile

SEAD-4 Guideline F · descriptive summary of a decided case

Posture: Decision on RecordDecided: denied

The judge found that the applicant had three delinquent consumer debts totaling over $49,000, including an auto loan, an apartment rental account, and a charged-off loan. Despite the applicant's claims of financial hardship and efforts to resolve the debts, the judge concluded that the financial considerations raised security concerns and ruled against the applicant.

¶	Allegation	Finding	Type	Response	Disqualifying (¶19)	Mitigating applied (¶20)	Mitigation
1.a	Applicant had a delinquent auto loan charged off for $19,347. $19,347	Against Applicant	Auto Loan Debt	Admitted	(a) inability to satisfy debts (c) a history of not meeting financial obligations	—	—
1.b	Applicant had an apartment rental account in collection for $7,242. $7,242	Against Applicant	Unspecified Financial	Admitted	(a) inability to satisfy debts (c) a history of not meeting financial obligations	—	—
1.c	Applicant had a charged-off loan for $23,146. $23,146	Against Applicant	Unspecified Financial	Admitted	(a) inability to satisfy debts (c) a history of not meeting financial obligations	—	—

Descriptive standardized rendering of a decided public case (Guideline F). The verbatim source decision is shown in full below.

Full decision

The complete, official text — footnotes and signatures included — is in the original PDF.