Guideline F: Financial Considerations
Decided hearing cases
15,374
Grant rate
32%
4,847 granted · 10,527 denied
Specific issues and their outcomes
Financial (unspecified)
29% granted · 3,690 granted · 8,847 denied
Credit-card debt
35% granted · 1,654 granted · 3,024 denied
Medical debt
34% granted · 1,311 granted · 2,490 denied
Unpaid taxes
27% granted · 841 granted · 2,330 denied
Auto-loan debt
29% granted · 797 granted · 1,980 denied
Utility / phone debt
34% granted · 784 granted · 1,534 denied
Mitigations judges credited most
- Debt paid in full495
- Payment plan with creditor40
- Chapter 7 bankruptcy36
- Financial counseling20
- Chapter 13 bankruptcy17
Counted only where the judge expressly credited the mitigation, not merely where it was claimed.
What the reference material says about financial cases
- Financial issues have been the most common concern in denials for over fifteen years, appearing in roughly half of them. (Practitioner compilations of DOHA statistics)
- For clearance holders at the Secret level and above, bankruptcy or any debt more than 120 days delinquent is a reportable event in its own right. (SEAD-3, Section G)
- Practitioner sources emphasize that documented good-faith repayment efforts count even when incomplete, and that debts to the government are viewed more seriously than commercial debts. (Practitioner sources)
From our verified reference library: paraphrased from the named sources and reviewed before publication. Descriptive background, not legal advice about any case.
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For attorneys and firms →Descriptive statistics from decided public DOHA cases. Not legal advice or a prediction. † marks samples under 20 cases.