Riverside Expungement Lawyer

The Benefits Of Expunging Your Criminal Record

There are many benefits to expunging your criminal record, such as:

Find Employment

Most employers perform background checks when hiring new employees. They also ask whether you have been convicted of a crime on their applications.

Expunging your record means that your conviction won’t show up on a background check. You can also answer “no” to the question of whether you have been convicted of a crime.

Expungement eliminates barriers to employment that people often face after a conviction.

Secure a Place to Live

Like employers, many landlords also conduct background checks. However, a criminal conviction can make it harder for landlords to approve rental applications, or you may find yourself paying higher rent and making larger deposits to secure a place to live.

Expunging your record means that your potential landlord won’t know about your conviction. Instead, you will be treated like any other applicant.

Protect Your Privacy

Expungement can help protect your privacy by removing your conviction from public eye. In California, expunging your record doesn’t seal your court case file. If someone knows where to look, they can find your case file. However, generally, expungement will keep your conviction private.

Take Out a Loan

Some lenders believe that a criminal conviction increases the risk that you’ll default on your loan. As a result, they may deny your application or charge you a higher rate.

Expunging your record can make it easier to get approved for a loan, whether it’s an auto, home, or personal loan.

What Can Criminal Expungement Not Do?

Expungement can be beneficial, but it’s not a magic eraser. It’s important to have realistic expectations and understand what the process can and cannot do.

Expunging your criminal record does not:

• Erase the conviction from your “rap sheet.” Law enforcement officials can still see your conviction and the expungement.
• Restore your right to have a firearm (if that right was taken away from you).
• Seal or remove the court case file from the public eye.
• Eliminate the requirement to register as a sex offender. You will need to take additional steps to avoid further registration.
• Prevent law enforcement from using the conviction as a “prior,” which can mean harsher penalties for subsequent convictions.
• Give you the right to omit the conviction from applications for public office or government-issued licenses. The conviction can still be considered when applying for permits or licenses, but the expungement may reduce the weight it has on the decision to grant or revoke them.
• Prevent ICE from using the conviction for the purpose of exclusion or removal.