Question about a granted expungement in California??

Question

I just got the paperwork for an expungement I was granted for a conviction in 2004. My question is, once an expungement is granted does that allow me to answer "No, i have not been convicted of a felony in" on my application. If so, how soon, and how can I look up exactly what will show on a background check?

Answer 1

Once your expungement has been granted, the conviction no longer exists for legal purposes, and you can answer "no" to "Have you ever been convicted....".

As to whether or not it will show up on a background check, that's kind of hit and miss. If someone consults the State's records, the conviction will not show up. However, private background check companies maintain their own databases. If one of them accessed your record *before* your conviction was expunged then it is in their database, and will still be reported.

State law forbids private companies from reporting information that they have not verified in the last 7 years, so if your conviction was expunged in 2004 it might still be reported by private companies until 2011.

Richard