Bankruptcy

[paulie951]

Hope this thread finds everyone dong well ! Question my wife and I filed for BR back in 2001 due to my wife losing her job. In 2004 I had my hours at work drastically reduced to the point were making ends meet forced me and my wife to again file BR back in 2004. Since then we have been consistently making payments to the court appointed trustee as the 2001 BR has been rolled into the 2004 proceedings. We have paid off half of the BR with a remaining balance of 11k. I have no judgements pending, all bills are up to date. My question.... Will this impede or disqualify my chances of becoming a law enforcement officer ? I am 39, no records, never arrested, not even a speeding ticket or accident in my 25 years of driving. I am married (15yrs) with 2 daughters ages 8 and 13.
Advise please at your convenience

Best Regards
Paulie

[CheesyHat]

One factor I have to say may DQ you is your age.. depending on where you apply. and Bankruptcy isn't something that depts take lightly due to the fact it is a corruption factor. It all really depends on where you apply, but I'd say that your chances are low.

[North Patrol]

Not sure about the state and local level but with Federal they tend to avoid people that show a history of financial instability. One Bankruptcy looks bad but 2 within 3 years looks real bad.

Nothing personal against you but if I was making the hiring decision I would go with the more stable applicant. Not saying you would not make a good LEO just saying that the department's needs come first.

Either way good luck.

[H.R. Cufnstuf]

Pleanty of departments do not have any upper age restrictions.

It's been said here many of times before that a bankruptcy does not look as bad if your behavior was not directly to blame for your financial difficulties.

[Nole795]

Personally you would not get hired with any of the three agencies I have worked for. Especially since you had to declare BR twice in your life. A BI may think you are impulsive, or just have bad management with your finances. Either way, agencies are relunctant to hire someone in your shoes. Your best bet is to contact the agencies you are interested in and speak with a recruiter.

[wilkabilly4]

My personal opinion is that if that is the only blemish, no, should not DQ you. I do the BI for my dept. and can say that a criminal situation should and does (in my Dept. views) look worse than financial difficulties.

Bottom line: Every Dept. has different standards in what they look for. Like others have said, call and talk to recruiters/BI people and ask them questions.

Every situation is unique, some people run debt up and then file, which is very irresponsible. Some actually acrue debt through various forms of misfortune, and file. Explanations are key. Now twice, well, there is an issue there but again, if it is due to work/medical bills or other things, there might be a dept. that can over look this. If people can "experiment" with narcotics, or have suspended licenses, or other criminal matters and still get hired, well you have some sort of chance.

Credit is used in many departments as a factor in the overall package, but it is not the only factor. We have a very good and talented officer who was hired that had a bankruptcy. But I trust him more than I would many other people.

My 2 cents!!!!!

[1depd]

Legally an agency can not disqualify you for filing bankruptcy, but prove they did. They can disqualify you for the actions leading up to and surrounding the bankrupcty though.

[Switchback]

I am not sure about the legality of DQing someone for a bankruptcy. It is VERY easy to articulate the security risks posed by someone who cannot demonstrate financial stability.

I know in the federal realm, it is extremely rare for someone to get hired with a bankruptcy... particularly one that is so recent. I do not think you'd get hired with 2 bankruptcies.

...also, for many federal jobs, you would not even be allowed to apply after hitting 37 years old.

[Jay7376]

Although have a bankruptcy (or two) might not be an automatic DQ, think about it this way, there will be a large number of candidates applying for the same job that you are that have never declared bankruptcy. Taking everything into perspective, which candidate do you think the department will choose?

[paulie951]

Hired Dec. 04, 2006 1810hrs.

SWEET!!!!!

[Roger Dat]

congrats and best of luck

[getitdone]

Although have a bankruptcy (or two) might not be an automatic DQ, think about it this way, there will be a large number of candidates applying for the same job that you are that have never declared bankruptcy. Taking everything into perspective, which candidate do you think the department will choose?

Interesting thing here, and normally you'd be right. BUT, one of our instructors does the BI and got this question from another cadet who is 35 years old with a bankruptcy 4 years ago. He said look, you're 35 with one bankruptcy, and say another is a candidate who is 21. He'll just cancel out the finances in the comparison all together - the 21 year old hasn't had TIME to establish any real sort of financial history, so it's unknown really how responsible he'll be financially. The 35 year old (background being otherwise fine) actually has a leg up with the life experience the younger doesn't have. And a bankruptcy doesn't necessarily mean financial irresponsibility depending on the circumstances.

So it could go either way for anyone depending on the BI. And congrats on getting hired!

[Nole795]

Interesting thing here, and normally you'd be right. BUT, one of our instructors does the BI and got this question from another cadet who is 35 years old with a bankruptcy 4 years ago. He said look, you're 35 with one bankruptcy, and say another is a candidate who is 21. He'll just cancel out the finances in the comparison all together - the 21 year old hasn't had TIME to establish any real sort of financial history, so it's unknown really how responsible he'll be financially. The 35 year old (background being otherwise fine) actually has a leg up with the life experience the younger doesn't have. And a bankruptcy doesn't necessarily mean financial irresponsibility depending on the circumstances.

So it could go either way for anyone depending on the BI. And congrats on getting hired!

From what you posted yes that could be true. But unfortunately in most agencies, there are more then 2 people applying for one positions. So if you have the 28 year old applicant with work history and no bankruptcy then who do you think will get the job? At the more popular agencies, your going to have a high number of applicants for one position. So agencies can be more selective.

It really is dependant on the agency and their policies. The agencies I have worked for were always top notch and they expected the same from their list of applicants.

[getitdone]

From what you posted yes that could be true. But unfortunately in most agencies, there are more then 2 people applying for one positions. So if you have the 28 year old applicant with work history and no bankruptcy then who do you think will get the job? At the more popular agencies, your going to have a high number of applicants for one position. So agencies can be more selective.

It really is dependant on the agency and their policies. The agencies I have worked for were always top notch and they expected the same from their list of applicants.

Yes that's obviously quite true as well. Something that people need to consider as well is that they may have to start out very small and work their way up. With bankruptcies and what not, it doesn't mean you won't get hire. But you certainly should be willing to compromise on WHERE you want to go.

Have to be willing to start out in podunkville if necessary.

[acreature]

2 in 3 years? 1 within a short time frame of applying looks bad enough.


Not here.