Under the “catch-all” ban, will my participation in a pre-trial intervention or diversion program matter?
If the program shows up on your background check as a conviction, then the PHA or owner of the government-assisted housing can consider it, and possibly deny you.[1261] SO it depends on how it comes up on your background check.
- If you are placed into a pre-trial intervention program and you do NOT have to plead guilty in order to participate, then a background check report will probably show the filing of a case, but no conviction while you are participating in the program.[1262] If you successfully complete the program, then your case will be dismissed without a conviction ever having been recorded. Therefore, it CANNOT show up as a conviction in a background check, because it never was one.[1263] If there are errors in your background check, the PHA or owner must give you an opportunity to correct them.[1264]
- If instead you are placed in a pre-trial intervention program that requires you to plead guilty, then this guilty plea will probably appear as a conviction on a background check report while you are still participating in the program. If you successfully complete the program, your guilty plea should be automatically withdrawn and those records sealed, after which a private background check company CANNOT report this as a conviction.[1265] If there are errors in your background check, the PHA or owner must give you an opportunity to correct them.[1266]
To learn more about how private background checks work, see PG. 377.