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This is an exceptionally long story, even with me trying to cull unimportant details. If I end up leaving out anything pertinent, PLEASE ask me questions - this is urgent and the stakes are very high for me. I decided to cut all of the backstory, because while it may help mitigate the situation during my eval, I'd rather have the tough talk now. I have been referred for a position requiring a security clearance - Public Trust, Secret, or Top Secret depending on the location. I unfortunately don't know at this stage where I would be going, so I assume I have to plan as though I require Top Secret clearance. Also unfortunately, I just discovered that I have much larger problems with my credit than I knew. It is shameful that I have not checked my credit before now, but I received a collections notice for $164 without much info and immediately ordered a credit report. The $144 is the least of my worries - regarding Comcast charging me for cable equipment I returned - and I will happily / easily pay it to make the entry go away. I don't know if I have that ability for my big problem. I had been operating under the impression that my student loans had all been paid off out of my father's life insurance policy. It appears that only my Wells Fargo loans were paid off, and I still have one Direct federal loan and several Sallie Mae loans totaling over $80,000. They have all been charged off - since 2011, when the other loans were satisfied. I do not understand how this happened - though I have a fuzzy idea so far that makes me ill to think about - but I'm trying to focus on what options I have available to me now. As I understand it, security clearance doesn't require great credit and large debts are fine - as long as you are attempting / have a viable plan for getting it paid. Given the situation, I don't anticipate this being easy. I do not currently have a well paying job - I make less than $1600 per month and can really only afford about $500 per month in payments. The fact that the loans are with Sallie Mae is also unfortunate, because they don't appear to be known for setting up reasonable payment plans for folks who have been in default. I don't yet know if the loans are federally guaranteed or not, though possibly not because they've never garnished my wages. I will obviously be making a lot of phone calls Monday to figure out where I stand. Anyway, what options do I have available to me? What questions do I need to ask? I'll post tomorrow in the light of day with any details I think might be important, as well as the options I'm aware of now. I appreciate any help anyone can offer.