Expungement Not Showing Up on Background Check

**gsrcivic** · 10-29-2009, 03:00 PM

I was recently denied employment due to a petty theft misdemeanor back in 2003. I had the misdemeanor expunged in 2005. I just recently graduated college and have been applying to jobs like crazy in the Los Angeles, CA area. I've been getting interviews, but have been turned down due to this misdemeanor. I'm not exactly sure how the law works but, shouldn't my expunged record not be relevant to a consumer report agency background check? Shouldn't the expungement not be disclosed to the employer?

I've called the consumer reporting agency (ChoicePoint), and have spoken to them several times. They said that sometimes the expungement wasn't reported, or wasn't recorded. So they asked me to go to the court and acquire copies of the expungement paperwork. I did just that, and I faxed the paperwork over to them. They are now opening a dispute, and they said once the expungement is on file for me, that I won't have to worry about it not showing up anymore. But when ChoicePoint did the background check, why is it that my expungement didn't come up? And sure, ChoicePoint will have my expungement on file, but what about the rest of the California Consumer report agencies?

I've requested an Official Criminal History Report from the DOJ, I should be receiving that in the next week or so. Should the Expungement be on my official criminal history report from the DOJ? If it's not on there, and should be, I'm going to contest the information on there stating that is incorrect and I'm going to try to get it corrected. But, what if it is on there? Does ChoicePoint still have the right to notify my employer of my misdemeanor even if it is stated as expunged? Much thanks ahead of time for your responses, as I've researching this matter for the last 3 weeks and have been going insane.

**Mr. Knowitall** · 10-31-2009, 11:42 AM

Read this.

The major credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, Equifax) don't report criminal records on their credit reports. As for what minor CRA's might do, that's something that you would have to examine case-by-case.

**cdwjava** · 10-31-2009, 12:29 PM

Like other firms that collect public records, Choicepoint collects and then archives these records for up to 7 years (and the COURT action of your conviction IS an available public record, even though your state criminal offender record is NOT publicly available). What you might have to do is serve a copy of the expungement order on Choicepoint and any other public records collections (background) companies that might be used for similar searches in the future. It is my understanding that if served with a court ordered expungement they also have to remove those records from their database as well.

However, are you certain that the reason you were not hired was because this came up? Could there be some other reason?

- Carl

**gsrcivic** · 11-02-2009, 01:55 PM

That's exactly what I did. I faxed over my expungement paperwork, and it is in the "dispute" process right now. They said once the dispute is resolved they will then delete the misdemeanor from their database. This will resolve matters when it comes to ChoicePoint, but what about all of the other CRA's? How am I to possibly get a hold of each CRA and send them copies of my expungement records? There has to be a way to have my Public Record Updated from all of the public databases. Choicepoint told me that they conduct National Criminal File Searches, and that's where my misdemeanor showed up. Even though, I have gone to the courts and they have told me that they have me on file as having my record expunged. ChoicePoint won't specify exactly where they get their information, but all they can say is they get it from Public Records, thus being the courts. Any help would be appreciated. Or input. Thanks.

**cdwjava** · 11-02-2009, 06:17 PM

Most courts will have only the most cursory information on line. Many of these companies receive electronic data transfers one or more times each year, so it may just be that the information that the company uses is older.

It will not be easy and it may require you to serve a copy on any and all of the major background companies. Or, you just have to be prepared to be up front with potential employers.

- Carl

**newbie09** · 11-10-2009, 08:20 PM

Gsrcivic, I am in a similar situation. I will be applying to seal my records very soon and I have been researching this very topic for a while now. I have read stories just like yours whereby records still show up. I am really scared of this happening. Please let us know what the outcome is. I will definitely be doing the same soon.

I also read an advise given by an attorney. That you should do a comprehensive background check on yourself (they are not all the same). Some BG check are very expensive. This might probably revel more info than other generic checks. what do you think? You should also contact an attorney with experience in this area. The money spent might just be worth it.

**newbie09** · 11-11-2009, 05:34 AM

Check out the article below.

http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/W...expunging.html

**newbie09** · 11-11-2009, 05:14 PM

I also found this info on one of the 4 largest data mining companies. They have a process of removing sealed records from their database ( I hope they actually do). So I think its a good idea to obtain a copy of your records from all the major database companies to dispute the info.

http://dev.nbd.saferent.com/Rafi/pag...tant_info.html

per the article I pasted in my previous post, "four data mining companies, including Atlanta-based ChoicePoint, the largest provider of data information in the country. The other three are Seisent, Court Venture and First American SafeRent."