Wrong Informatio

[hollyhan123]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

I just have a few questions.

When I was younger I had go into a little trouble. I completed everything I needed to do and pled first offender on my charges. When my probation was up I filed for a discharge and I received it. This was over 2 years ago, I recently filled out a rentals application to rent a home, I was sent back a letter stating they denied the application because of felony conviction(s). Under the first offerender law it states once discharged you are not to be considered to have felony convictions or it can not be held against you for any employment or civil reasons. I have spoken to the DA already and she has informed me that the records are in fact sealed and NO ONE but law inforcement has access to them, so how the sun home communties accessed them she has no idea. My question is what are my options with this? The case has been discharged for over 2 years now and its very degrading when I am denied for something that legally isnt suppose to be held againt me, thats the sole purpose for the first offenders act right?? Is the company (Sun Home Communities) at any fault?? I just want to know my options.

 

[swalsh411]

You left out a very important word. It cannot be used against you for any reason related to civil rights. It's still entirely possible that this is showing up in your record in a 3rd party background check database and I don't think there is anything you can do about it. There is no law that says you can't be denied a rental because of that.

 

[hollyhan123]

So if this is the case how do I or can I stop this from showing up on a 3rd party background check??

 

[hollyhan123]

I understand there is no law saying I can't be denied for that. But the law does say I am not to be considered to have a felony conviction....and this company sent me a letter say they denied me for felony conviction.

 

[quincy]

Before you can get the error corrected, you need to discover the source of the error.

If you have already been to the charging agency and the court and they have checked their databases and there is no record showing of your felony, and the Georgia Criminal Information Center was notified by the agency or the court of the dismissal of your felony charge and the record of it has been purged from GCIC, then you will want to contact the background check company.

When your application was denied by Sun Homes due to a background check, Sun Homes should have provided you with not only the reason for their denial but a copy of the background check report that precipitated it. If they didn't provide you with it, you will need to request it.

From the background report you will be able to discover what background company conducted the search and how to contact them.

Contact the background check company and request a copy of your entire report. Make a note of where your felony charge appears and where the record of the felony came from (ie. police agency, court, GCIC). It is possible that the background check company mined the police or court records before the charge was dismissed, which is why it appears on your report. Background check companies are not always good about updating their records.

Background check companies are subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act just as the Credit Reporting Agencies are, and you dispute errors that appear on these reports the same way you do on your credit reports. Follow the instructions that are provided with the report on how to file a dispute.

You may need to provide the company with proof that your felony charge was dismissed, but it is better to provide them with the contact information for someone at the police agency or court. Let the company know that, by law, the record no longer exists for public view and access. Ask them to update their database accordingly and tell them to remove the felony charge wherever it appears.

After you have filed a dispute with the background check company, they have 30 days to investigate the matter and remove the inaccuracies. Then insist on having another background check run to see if the felony charge was, in fact, removed (you may have to pay for this additional report).

If all attempts to clear your reports fail, then you might want to contact an attorney. The attorney can make it clear to the background check company that a lawsuit could be initiated if the matter is not taken care of immediately.

It is important for everyone to run their own background checks on themselves every so often, to make sure errors are not appearing. Errors are common and some errors can, as you discovered, result in a denial of housing or a job.

Sun Homes is not at fault for acting on the information provided in the report, by the way (if it was a background check that revealed the felony), and no legal recourse would be available to you if the error in reporting the dismissed charge is corrected in a timely fashion.

As a note: If you are planning on becoming a lawyer or a doctor or a teacher or a law enforcement officer, you will be asked about dismissed charges on the application. You must be honest about your felony charge on the application. The fact that a felony charge was dismissed will be disclosed on "enhanced" background searches conducted by and allowed for these professions (and a few select others).

As another note: Defamation is the relating of false and reputationally injurious information.

Good luck.

 

[hollyhan123]

Ok, thanks I have already requested the background from the agency and sent them documentation that it is dismissed, I will just have to request another copy to see if they updated their systems. Thanks for your help.

 

[quincy]

You're welcome, hollyhan. Good luck.