Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This job I've been interviewing for recently did a background check on me and pulled up that I have a misdemeanor for a fender bender in 2003. I was following too close and hit the person in front of me. Neither car was totaled and both of us drove away. I had no idea since 2003 that I had a misdemeanor on my record and it has not been pulled up by the other jobs I have worked at since. It's a bit embarrassing because I had no idea it was a misdemeanor and didn't list it on my application. What would be the steps to have this expunged? Is following too closely a misdemeanor? It's not even a wreckless charge
It would depend on your state, but that almost sounds like a mistake. You could try the local clerk of court to see what they could tell you, but you may well need to hire a lawyer, just to get someone to listen to you at all.
What would be the steps to have this expunged? Is following too closely a misdemeanor? It's not even a wreckless charge
Well, for starters, you can't have a charge expunged that you haven't even answered to in court yet. You have to address the charge first.
The charge is probably hit-and-run, or failure to report an accident. Even if you were able to drive away, you are still required to report the accident and exchange information with the other driver. Even a minor ding, if you leave the scene, is considered a hit-and-run. Then when you fail to appear on those charges, a misdemeanor charge of failure to appear is applied.
The first thing you need to do is contact the court. Probably you are looking at significant fines. First you'll have to pay the citation of actually leaving the scene, failing to yield, etc. Then you'll have to pay court fees that arose from the misdemeanor charge. Then you'll probaby have to pay restitution to the person you hit, and their insurance company.
If you agree to pay full restitution to the courts and the victim, you may get the judge to agree to drop the charges, which would eliminate them from your record. But a judge willnot usually do this unless there are extenuating circumstances to explain why you did these things (left the scene, didn't report it, never followed up, etc). It is actually possible that the court screwed up and didn't notify you (it happened to me once--not a hit and run, but a speeding ticket that was mailed and the mailing address was so severly bungled by the clerk that it couldn't be delivered). But you'll need to prove that the notification couldn't be delivered. You can't just claim that you never got the notice.
As for actual expungement, that varies by state. Typically, you have to have paid all the charges and have no other incidents on your record for about 8-10 years before you can request that the record be expunged. You may need to hire a lawyer to help you with this.
Well, for starters, you can't have a charge expunged that you haven't even answered to in court yet. You have to address the charge first.
The charge is probably hit-and-run, or failure to report an accident. Even if you were able to drive away, you are still required to report the accident and exchange information with the other driver. Even a minor ding, if you leave the scene, is considered a hit-and-run. Then when you fail to appear on those charges, a misdemeanor charge of failure to appear is applied.
The first thing you need to do is contact the court. Probably you are looking at significant fines. First you'll have to pay the citation of actually leaving the scene, failing to yield, etc. Then you'll have to pay court fees that arose from the misdemeanor charge. Then you'll probaby have to pay restitution to the person you hit, and their insurance company.
If you agree to pay full restitution to the courts and the victim, you may get the judge to agree to drop the charges, which would eliminate them from your record. But a judge willnot usually do this unless there are extenuating circumstances to explain why you did these things (left the scene, didn't report it, never followed up, etc). It is actually possible that the court screwed up and didn't notify you (it happened to me once--not a hit and run, but a speeding ticket that was mailed and the mailing address was so severly bungled by the clerk that it couldn't be delivered). But you'll need to prove that the notification couldn't be delivered. You can't just claim that you never got the notice.
As for actual expungement, that varies by state. Typically, you have to have paid all the charges and have no other incidents on your record for about 8-10 years before you can request that the record be expunged. You may need to hire a lawyer to help you with this.
I think that depends on the state, I know for my state it is 7 years, I got in a fender bender and it was on my record for 7 years, but it was not a hit and run, the cops showed up and cited me, I paid it and that was the end of it. It showed up on my record until 07 but not as a misdemeanor since I paid the fine. The difference is back in 2000 employers were not doing top secret level security clearnaces to hire a manager at mcdonalds. They must have robots working in top secret levels of gov at this point becasue no human being could past the muster that employers expect these days.
kodaka makes good point on the difference between the accident and the criminal charge. Many times on a background things show up and people are confused as to what it was or means. First you need to deal with the charge itself and find out what its for, how it was placed against you. that's the thing your dealing with not the fender bender. First stop is the clerk of the court where it was entered.
There is something wrong here. You can't be convicted of a misdemeanor (a crime) without due process. That would include a court appearance. If you didn't appear in court, there would be a warrant for your arrest.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't think so ...
