Does a Felony Go Away After 7 Years?

Do I have to disclose a felony after 7 years?

Does a felony go away after 7 years? If the conviction has been expunged, it does, regardless of how old it is. You never have to disclose it, and you can legally state that it never took place. Expungement removes all records of a crime. In the eyes of the law, it never happened.

For felonies that have not been expunged, you may or may not be obligated to disclose the felony during a job search, depending on state and local laws. There are situations where it may be best to disclose it even if you don’t have to

Many states have ban-the-box laws. In those states, a potential employer is not allowed to ask you about felony convictions, and you are not obligated to disclose them. However, they are allowed to order a criminal background check, and, even if they have made you a conditional job offer, they may (under certain circumstances) withdraw it based on what they find. Once they have reached the point where they’re about to order a background search, it may be best to be up-front with them about what they are going to discover. In many cases, they aren’t allowed to withdraw the job offer unless your crime creates a specific risk for the specific job in question.

A few states do not allow background check providers to report felonies more than seven years old. Even though an employer won’t learn about these from their CRA, they are still a matter of public record and the employer may discover them in some other way. In most of these states, employers won’t be allowed to use that information in the hiring decision even if they discover it.

What is the FCRA’s Seven-Year Lookback Period?

The Federal Credit Reporting Act governs, among other things, how credit reporting agencies and employers can collect and share information about individuals such as job applicants. The FCRA contains a seven-year rule. It applies in all 50 states and to jobs that pay less than $75,000 per year. It restricts background checks from reporting some types of records that are more than seven years old.

It disallows reporting of old arrests that did not result in a conviction. It also prohibits the reporting of civil judgments and lawsuits, paid tax liens, collection accounts and Chapter 13 bankruptcies that are more than seven years old. If a CRA discovers any of these records, they may not report them to the employer that engaged them.

FCRA in no way restricts the reporting of actual convictions, no matter how old they are. Furthermore, it doesn’t restrict the reporting of employment history, professional license information or other non-criminal background information. Employers are allowed to ask applicants about any of these going back to age 18.

The clock starts to run on the seven-year window on the file date of the arrest, not on the date when charges were dismissed or the person was found not guilty.

Although the FCRA does not restrict the reporting of old felony convictions, several states have laws that do so.

What States Follow the Seven-Year Rule for Convictions?

10 states have gone a step further than the FCRA rule. These disallow the reporting of convictions more than seven years old.

Hawaii, California, Montana, Massachusetts and New Mexico prohibit the reporting of convictions more than seven years old, regardless of what the job pays. However, some types of employers, such as schools and law enforcement agencies, are accepted in some states. Hawaii also bars reporting of misdemeanors more than five years old. The clock begins to run on the time period on the disposition date, the incarceration release date or the start date of parole. These states also forbid reporting arrests that resulted in dismissal or a not guilty verdict, regardless of age. However, they may allow reporting of open cases that do not yet have a disposition.

Kansas, Maryland, New Hampshire, Washington and New York also have a seven-year restriction on reporting convictions. However, the laws apply only to jobs paying $20,000 per year or less ($25,000 in New York). Because of minimum wage laws, these restrictions apply only to low-paying jobs that are mostly part-time.

What States Expunge Old Criminal Records?

There are also states that have passed clean slate laws. These seal or expunge records of misdemeanors and some felonies more than a certain number of years old. Seven years is a typical cutoff for felonies. In these cases, CRAs normally won’t be able to uncover a record of the convictions.

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah and Virginia have enacted clean slate laws that are already in effect or soon to go into effect. The waiting period for expungement varies. Depending on the state, some crimes, such as sex offenses, domestic violence and offenses involving firearms, are not expunged. Also, some states have expungement laws that are specific to cannabis offenses.

Bottom Line

The FCRA prohibits CRAs from reporting arrests more than seven years old if they did not result in a conviction. Some states go a step further and disallow the reporting of convictions that are more than seven years old.

Convictions don’t go away just because a CRA no longer may report them to an employer. They’re still a matter of public record, and they can be discovered in ways other than a background check. However, some states expunge some convictions more than seven (or some other number of years) old. In these cases, convictions really do go away. In the eyes of the law, the crime never happened, and former offenders can legally state that they were not convicted.