I have a friend who is currently living with me because she is trying to get an apartment. The problem she is having is the fact that about 3 months ago she was involved in a drug bust where she was over at someone's house and they had drugs in the house when the house was busted. She was there so she got charged as well. Her charge was possession of marijuana less than 2 ounces. She has not had to go to court yet for the crime but I am worried she is going to have trouble finding an apartment since all of them around here run your criminal record and won't even consider you if you have any drug related charges. If she hasn't gone to court yet and got her sentence, will it still show up that she was convicted of a crime?

Hello marg:

She doesn't HAVE a criminal record until she's convicted.

excon

So you have to actually go to court and get a sentence before you are convicted?

Hello again m:

Yes... but not exactly. When somebody is charged with a crime, they'll probably go to court several times over a period of months. At ONE of those appearances, she will be found guilty (or NOT), by submitting a plea agreement or by having a jury find her guilty.

Up until that day, she's NOT convicted. After that day, she is. It still may take weeks before sentence is pronounced, and then even more weeks before a sentence might start.

Hope that clears it up.

excon

And even once she is convicted if that happens, it may take some time for the conviction to be entered on the public record.

Bottomline is she can search now for an apt without worrying about a background check.

The deal is, the night she was involved in the drug bust, they told her she could go because she didn't live there. They ran her driver's license number and stuff to see if she had any warrants and then she left. A couple week's later, she has a warrant. I told her to just turn her self in so they couldn't get her for that. She had to spend a night in jail and got released without bond the next morning but she was booked and stuff. That is the only thing I am worried about for her is if it will show she has a record and that it was for drugs?

Again, She will not have a record until she is convicted. She has not gone to court, she has not entered a plea, she has not undergone a trial, therefore no record.

Thank all of you so much for your help.

Devil's advocate (again!)... does the friend have to disclose to the apartment complex that she is being investigated for a drug charge (especially since it appears that she is guilty)? Or what happens if she gets the apartment and _then_ the complex finds out about the conviction? Can't they (at least in some cases) then evict her? And I would be very careful about reading _everything_ on the application in her case. Because if there is anything in there about being charged with, but not convicted of, a drug-related crime, and she says that she hasn't been, then they can break the lease on the grounds that she lied on the application.

If they ask have you been convicted, they say NO, they have not been convicted, being guilty does not mean they will be convicted, or that the conviction will not get a division program.

If they ask have you been convicted, they say NO, they have not been convicted, being guilty does not mean they will be convicted, or that the conviction will not get a division program.

But what happens if they get convicted after they get the apartment? Or, to look at it a different way, let's say that she got the apartment and then went to the friend's house and got caught up in the drug bust. Can the apartment complex kick her out after the lease is signed based on the conviction? I'm just trying to figure out if the lease is going to give her a year to coast, or if she is still going to have trouble if she gets convicted.

Well if she is in jail and don't pay rent they can kick her out.

If she has drugs found in her apartment they can evict her.

But you can make a 1000's what if, what if he is walking down the road and martians land and take her as a hostage.

Who knows, how much drugs, was she actually selling or just there.
But normally no, once in the lease and there is not drugs in their apartment, they can not evict.
**** there are some special rules in section 8 and government subsidised housing.

But honstly, I am sorry but if a person who would rather use illegal drugs than have a place to live needs to be homeless for a awhile till they make a choice to have a place to live.