Mon, 16 Oct 2006

Criminal Records Erased by Courts Live to Tell Tales

It's not just criminal records that are a problem here, it's civil ones as well.

Back in the 80's, I operated a company called Oaklandon Computer Research. I sold the company in 1991, but the process of the sale was botched, as the accountants failed to close the state tax accounts properly. Since the mailing address was closed, too, nobody every received the sales tax delinquency notices that were mailed.

When I went to buy a new home in 1993, the mortgage banker told me about it: "We're sorry, Mr. Haxton, but there's no way we could make a loan to somebody who owes the State of Indiana over $250,000!".

I was flabbergasted, to say the least, but almost immediately located the source of the problem. One trip to Indy and the State revenue folks gave me a bundle of releases for all the bills and liens that had been placed. I got the house and forgot about it, until 1997.

That's when we moved to Minnesota and tried to buy another house. Same problem, but this time the source was the credit bureaus. I found the old releases, and got the house. I also mailed copies of them to every major credit bureau in America.

When we tried to buy a new car the following year, same problem. By this time I was getting pissed off, so I hired a lawyer and sued the bastards. We won, and they removed the stuff from the records. Or so they said. Because the next year, all those tax liens had mysteriously re-appeared.

And to the best of my knowledge, they're still there. How they get back in is a mystery, and why they can't be permanently removed is a mystery as well. But I simply don't have the time or money to continue filing suits and winning, only to have to repeat the process next year.

So I just carry a big folder marked "Indiana Tax Screwup" whenever I apply for a loan. I guess it's easier that way, but it's still aggravating.

Enormous commercial databases are fast undoing the societal bargain of expungement, which allows people who commit minor crimes a fresh start.

(link) [NYT > Home Page]

/Home | 2 writebacks | permanent link

On 10/17/2006 10:00:38
Thorolf wrote

On 10/18/2006 21:02:21
Walter Jeffries wrote

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