My question involves criminal records for the state of: Minnesota
Hello,
Last year in 2011 myself and two other friends were caught shoplifting. We were taken into the loss prevention office where I information was taken. We were then given a citation and told that a court date would come in the mail. Each one of us stole less than $20 worth of merchandise. We paid restitution to the store and went to our court date a few months later. My friends and I both only spoke with the DA and entered into the diversion program. We clearly stated that we wanted to do whatever possible to keep this off our record as it was clearly a mistake that will never happen again. This was first offense for all of us. My friend's both paid their fines and were given paperwork on what they would need to do. (Which was only to pay the fine and stay off the property where the crime was committed for a year) I did not have enough money to pay my fine at that moment so I took a continuance and came back to court a month later. I immediately spoke with the DA and paid my fine. I was given no paperwork what soever and only a receipt for the fine that I paid. A few months later I ended up calling the property where the crime had happened and asked the security office if I was on the banned list. They told me that there was two lists, one from the court and one from the property itself. My name was not on either. This confused me because I was told that I would not be able to go there for a year. However, when I signed the paperwork with the DA, it said nothing of the sort to me about not being able to go to this property for a year. I also was not given a copy of the paperwork I signed. However, my friends were given copies and the paperwork had said that they could not be at the property for a year. This alone was very confusing.
Since then we have all gotten jobs and one friend got an apartment as well. It would seem that nothing was showing up on our background checks. However, about a month and a half ago one friend of mine applied for an apartment and got denied. The complex claims that they had found record of the theft charge and now we are all quite worried about our futures. We were all told that after the diversion program was completed that we would not have anything on our record. Were we lied to? What should we do now to keep our records clean? I know you may have heard this before, but please understand that this was a one time mistake and we are all just wanting to move past it.
I thank you for your time and advice.

