The room is warm, but you’re cool. You handily respond to every question and inquiry, impressing your tough and meticulous interviewers. This is your dream job. The job you’ve been working toward your whole life, and you just nailed the interview. You know that congratulatory phone call will be coming soon. You did it. Success. But when that phone call comes, there’s something off in the caller’s voice. You were the perfect candidate, plenty of experience, great references, nailed the interview, but… the background check. How can one little mistake in your past derail your bright and beautiful future? If only you could go back in time and make a better decision. 

Having a criminal record doesn’t just affect your job prospects. It could prevent you from getting into the college or trade school of your choice, or even from being employed in an entire industry. Landlords also routinely run background checks and won’t lease that perfect apartment to someone with a criminal history. Before you schedule that next interview or submit that college application, take an eraser to your criminal record. Here’s how. 

Get Rid of It

You can expunge certain offenses in Pennsylvania. An expungement erases an offense from your criminal record. When an expungement is granted, the record is destroyed and completely removed from the state databases as though it never existed. However, only certain offenses are eligible to be expunged. Courts have to grant an expungement for someone over 21 years of age who was convicted after their 18th birthday of a summary offense related to the purchase, consumption, possession or transportation of alcohol so long as they’ve satisfied the terms and conditions of their sentence. Almost any offense can be expunged if you’re over 70 years old and have been free from arrest or prosecution for ten years, or if you’ve been dead for three years. While these don’t likely apply to you, you can also have a summary offense expunged if you’ve been free from arrest or prosecution for five years. Under either circumstance, no court can expunge a record related to sexually motivated offenses where the victim was under 18. 

Seal It

More recently, Pennsylvania also granted the ability to seal certain records. Officially, seeking an Order for Limited Access means that the record still exists, but is no longer accessible to the public. While those in the criminal justice system, such as police, prosecutors and judges, would have access, these offenses wouldn’t appear in a background search. Orders for Limited Access are limited to qualifying misdemeanors or ungraded offenses carrying a maximum penalty of no more than five years, and you must have been free from conviction for a period of 10 years. There are always exceptions and limitations, so to find out if your criminal records are eligible to be sealed, contact us today. 

Clean Slate

Because Pennsylvania recognizes the harm imposed by a criminal record, it was the first state to adopt a clean slate law which automatically shields from the public certain eligible criminal and summary convictions after 10 years if you’ve remained conviction and offense free. Charges that never resulted in conviction, summary convictions, and some second and third degree misdemeanors are eligible for clean slate. Again, these charges still exist and are still accessible by law enforcement and judicial officers, but not to the general public. 

Don’t let bad decisions from your past steal your future. If you want to prevent potential employers, colleges, and landlords from seeing your past mistakes, The Law Office of Lee & Harry can help you clear your criminal record. If you’re ready to clean up your past, contact us today.