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Law Offices of Robert P. Cocco, P.C.

Denied Housing, Employment, or Education Because of a Sealed or Expunged Criminal Record?

Pennsylvania Clean Slate records should not be used against you in rental or home purchase credit applications.

You worked hard to move forward. If a screening company reported an old sealed, expunged, or limited-access criminal case to a employer, education institution, or landlord/ property manager after you applied for housing or employment and were denied, call us to discuss your legal rights.

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Problems With Background Check Screening

Many employers and apartment communities use screening companies to decide whether an applicant is accepted. These reports may include criminal-history information that can cost someone a job or an apartment, even when the reported record should no longer have been available or used.

Because screening companies may use outdated private databases, vendors, or stale court-record information, problems can occur when these companies fail to update its records after a court seals or expunges a case such as:

  • Reporting a sealed criminal case as if it is still public.
  • Claiming a record was found in Pennsylvania court records when it was no longer visible there.
  • Failing to say that a case was sealed, expunged, or granted limited access.
  • Using an old case to recommend that a landlord reject the applicant.
  • Failing to check current court records before issuing the report.
  • Failing to use available update systems that identify sealed or expunged Pennsylvania records.

 

These errors can be especially harmful because landlords often rely on the screening company’s recommendation rather than independently reviewing the facts.

Pennsylvania Clean Slate and Limited Access Records

Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate law was designed to help people move forward after old, minor, dismissed, or eligible criminal cases. In many situations, Pennsylvania law seals certain criminal records from public view through automatic sealing or a court petition.

Once a case is sealed, expunged, or placed under limited access, it generally should not be used by a non-criminal justice agency for housing purposes. A screening company may violate the law if it reports or uses a sealed Pennsylvania criminal case to recommend that a landlord reject your rental application.

You May Have a Claim If This Happened to You

You may have a potential claim if:

  • Your case was sealed under Clean Slate and had been removed from public view.
  • You applied for employment or an apartment, rental home, or other housing.
  • An employer, landlord, or property manager ordered a tenant-screening report.
  • The report said you had a Pennsylvania criminal record when you had no other criminal record other than your sealed or expunged case.
  • The criminal case had already been sealed, expunged, or granted limited access.
  • The report listed the case as if it was still publicly available information.
  • Your rental application was denied, delayed, or made more difficult because of the report.

 

Even if you eventually found other housing or employment, you may still have suffered harm if the report falsely made it appear that you had reportable criminal history.

Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

The Fair Credit Reporting Act, often called the FCRA, requires background-check companies and tenant-screening companies to use reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy.

If a company reports sealed, expunged, outdated, incomplete, or misleading criminal-history information, it may have violated the FCRA. The FCRA may allow consumers to recover actual damages, statutory damages, punitive damages, attorney’s fees, and costs, depending on the facts.

Your Rights Under Pennsylvania CHRIA

Pennsylvania’s Criminal History Record Information Act, known as CHRIA, protects consumers from improper use of certain criminal-history information.

For housing purposes, non-criminal justice agencies generally may not use criminal-history record information that has been expunged or placed under limited access, unless an exception applies. If a tenant-screening company used a sealed or limited-access Pennsylvania case to cause a housing rejection, that conduct may violate Pennsylvania law.

What To Do If This Happened To You

How We Can Help

If you were denied housing because of a background check, save every document you have, including:

  • The rental application.
  • The tenant-screening report.
  • Any adverse-action notice.
  • Emails or texts from the employer, landlord or property manager.
  • Any message saying your application was rejected or declined.
  • Court paperwork showing the case was sealed, expunged, or granted limited access.
  • Any dispute you sent to the screening company.
  • Any response showing the record was removed after your dispute.

Speak With a Consumer Protection Attorney

Being denied employment or housing because of an inaccurate or illegal background check can be humiliating, stressful, and financially damaging. It can force you to keep searching, pay more money, lose application fees, or miss out on a safe place to live.

The Law Offices of Robert P. Cocco represents consumers in Pennsylvania who have been harmed by inaccurate background checks, tenant-screening errors, and violations of consumer protection laws.

Call for a free Consultation!

If a landlord rejected your rental application because a tenant-screening report included a sealed, expunged, or limited-access Pennsylvania criminal record, contact us for a free consultation.

You may have claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Pennsylvania law.

Attorney advertising. This page is for general information only and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Each case depends on its facts.