NYC Hedge Fund Credit Check

Hi guys,

I was recently made an offer to be a Systems Engineer at a NYC Hedge Fund.  I currently work at another firm for almost two years.  I'm about to start the background check, and I'm nervous. I have no criminal record, a clean driving record, employment I can verify and good references, however my credit is lousy.

I currently have 36K in credit card debts (mostly maxed out), and 17K in personal loans.  Obviously, I know this is less than ideal and not a good practice, as it's from a harder time in my life. I'm currently in process to pay these off over the next 18 - 24 months and understand getting rid of that is critical.

The position is in NYC, I saw there was a credit check law that should in most instances prevent people from not getting positions? This is NOT a financial analyst job, its an engineering job, however my credit score is 575 (no missed payments never, no tax liens, no bankruptcy, just high credit usage and personal loans).  I'm working on getting it down to zero.

Will this sink my chances to pass the background check?  I was advised the person who applied before had 25K in loans, but also had fraud (so I'm guessing thats what sank him).  From what I read online, while 45 - 50K in debt is not great, it semes bankruptcies, missed payments, debt collections, tax liens, etc is what counts?

Can someone verify if I'm screwed?  This is my otherwise dream job.  I already work a Hedge Fund but trying to go to another.