Dismissed Criminal Charge Reported as 'No Outcome'

My question involves criminal records for the state of: VA

I have a few questions regarding a felony charge I received in 2003. Below are the details.

In the fall of 2003 I was arrested and charged with a felony. The Commonwealth Attorney was shaky on the charges and reduced them to a misdemeanor. I hired an attorney from the start. In the spring of 2004, the charges were dismissed by the judge.

Since 2004 I have gone through numerous background screenings for financial institutions, the federal government, apartments and even received clearances for my job.

Recently I completed an application and was screened by a major screening company. My application was rejected because I did not meet the criminal requirements.

I went through the process and their records show my charge, however they do not show an outcome. It says "no outcome". However a quick search online through the court service shows the charges were dismissed. I filed a dispute and they say it is up to me to provide proof that the charges were dismissed. I sent the offical order of dismissal from the court however they are still not removing this from their background screening.

I understand the place I applied to has no obligation to accept my application even though I meet their qualifications.

My questions are:

What action can I take against the screening company?

I contacted my attorney from the original charge, but it is the weekend so I expect a call on Monday, however can I have this record removed as it was a dismissal?

Is the screening company liable for providing information that was not accurate?

What is their duty to research the information they provide to third parties?

First off, you probably don't have ANY legitimate action against the screener. The fact that you have an unresolved criminal charge against you may not be inaccurate. Are you sure the CA officially nolle prossed the charges. You can apply to the court to have these expunged. You can contest these listings at the screener under the FCRA most likely, if, in fact, it was shown to be inaccurate. But in general, you're pretty much screwed.

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Quoting flyingron

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First off, you probably don't have ANY legitimate action against the screener. The fact that you have an unresolved criminal charge against you may not be inaccurate. Are you sure the CA officially nolle prossed the charges. You can apply to the court to have these expunged. You can contest these listings at the screener under the FCRA most likely, if, in fact, it was shown to be inaccurate. But in general, you're pretty much screwed.

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Maybe I wasn't clear in the original post.

This is for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The charges were resolved with dismissal by the judge. No plea deal, no probation, no court action other than "sir, these charges have no basis and I dismiss them". I received a court dismissal document. I contacted the court via phone last week and they said the charges were resolved with dismissal. The website shows them as dismissed. The charges were not nolle prossed. The Commwealth proceeded with the charges against me and could not prove the case so the judge dismissed them.

These charges have had zero affect on me obtaining government clearances and passing stringent back ground checks.

This particular screening company lists the original charge and the disposition says "NONE". When provided with the actual court document, they still refuse to change the status in their system.

Has anyone had experience in this matter? I will be having my lawyer contact them, but also looking to educate myself and see if anyone has had experience in these matters.

Again these charges are resolved and this particular screening company is the only one that has no case status. Isn't this part of their job to investigate matters and provide the proper information? I was rejected within 12 hours of the application which shows they went off what the initial search shows and did not have diligence in verifying the accuracy of the information.

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Quoting chadsteven

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Maybe I wasn't clear in the original post.

This is for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The charges were resolved with dismissal by the judge. No plea deal, no probation, no court action other than "sir, these charges have no basis and I dismiss them". I received a court dismissal document. I contacted the court via phone last week and they said the charges were resolved with dismissal. The website shows them as dismissed. The charges were not nolle prossed. The Commwealth proceeded with the charges against me and could not prove the case so the judge dismissed them.

These charges have had zero affect on me obtaining government clearances and passing stringent back ground checks.

This particular screening company lists the original charge and the disposition says "NONE". When provided with the actual court document, they still refuse to change the status in their system.

Has anyone had experience in this matter? I will be having my lawyer contact them, but also looking to educate myself and see if anyone has had experience in these matters.

Again these charges are resolved and this particular screening company is the only one that has no case status. Isn't this part of their job to investigate matters and provide the proper information? I was rejected within 12 hours of the application which shows they went off what the initial search shows and did not have diligence in verifying the accuracy of the information.

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You really have no choice but to get an attorney involved to explore the legal remedies. You have been harmed by their inaccurate information.

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Quoting llworking

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You really have no choice but to get an attorney involved to explore the legal remedies. You have been harmed by their inaccurate information.

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Thank you for your response. In your opinion, in what way have they harmed me?

Generally speaking, the reports come with a host of disclaimers that insulate the background check company from liability. However, once an error is brought to its attention, it should correct the error. If this company falls under the laws governing credit reporting agencies, credit reporting laws may provide additional duties and potential remedies.

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Quoting chadsteven

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Thank you for your response. In your opinion, in what way have they harmed me?

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They caused you to not be hired. They caused you economic harm.

I am quite familiar with the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. I've lived there for over 25 years.

The judge saying "I dismiss them" is NOT sufficient to expunge them. You can feel good that they're not going to try you when he says that, but they are still there.

Government clearances typically don't get worked up over dismissed charges, but that doesn't mean that other jobs WON'T.

I told you what the LAW as. Sorry you it's not what you wanted to hear.

You'll have to deal with the lawyer to see if he thinks something different applies. But I suspect the answer is the same:

1. Your charges were still legitimately on record.
2. You have no claims against the background check company for reporting them.
3. You have the standard FCRA process to dispute them if you believe they were inaccurate.
4. You should actually use the VIRGINIA expungement procedure to get rid of the public access to this so it won't likely happen again.

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Quoting flyingron

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First off, you probably don't have ANY legitimate action against the screener. The fact that you have an unresolved criminal charge against you may not be inaccurate. Are you sure the CA officially nolle prossed the charges. You can apply to the court to have these expunged. You can contest these listings at the screener under the FCRA most likely, if, in fact, it was shown to be inaccurate. But in general, you're pretty much screwed.

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Thanks for the second response. I wasn't sure if you read my post as you mentioned nolle prossed, something I never mentioned. Just making sure you were referring to my thread which mentioned dismissal.

Not getting into the details of the case, but it was a very shaky case built on nonexistent evidence which the judge saw right through. I am not concerned about people seeing the arrest, however I am concerned that there is a screening company that is not reporting accurate information and refuses to change the information.

They don't have an obligation to verify the legitimacy of the facts before they turn it over to a third party? They don't have to remove incorrect information when presented with the correct information?

The screening company's responsibility is to report what they see, NOT to investigate it.