Colorado Record Sealing and Expungements: What About Private Background Check Agencies?
By Colorado Criminal Defense Expungements Lawyer – H. Michael Steinberg
When you have your record sealed in Colorado – notice of the Court’s Order to Seal the Record is sent to all of the PUBLIC AGENCIES who have touched the case. What is not immediately clear and what you may not realize is that the same ORDER TO SEAL THE RECORD must also be sent to private criminal background check companies.
This process strategically reduces the amount of time it would normally take background check companies to update their records and reduces the chances that a cleared or modified record could be inaccurately
If you have had your criminal record sealed, expunged, set aside or otherwise cleared by the court, you have won half the battle. While you have done everything possible to clean up your government record, old information is most likely still being held and distributed by private background check providers. Taking proactive measures to notify these companies can reduce the time it would normally take from up to several years to just a couple of months.
While this process can make clear ALL entries from all of the private databases, and since background check providers are unlicensed and it is impossible to even know how many providers there are, the Steinberg Colorado Law Firm sends the Court Order to Seal to the largest and most trusted companies, and thereby, reducing the chances that a potential employer, landlord or other interested party would see the outdated information.
There is no other single step that will clear more sources in less time.
Sometimes a particular criminal record may still appear on a background check after the Orders have been sent.
If the client has a particular agency in mind, you should wait until after the Orders have been sent and at least 30 days have past. Criminal Database Update has been performed before contacting them regarding your record. It is likely that the Criminal Database Update service will reach them and if not, you can use the informational guide and sample dispute letter in your final packet to request an update.