Why Your Record Still Appears Online
You had a conviction expunged — or you believe Michigan's automatic set-aside process should have cleared it. But you searched your name, or a background check came back with something you expected to be gone.
This is one of the most common experiences people have after expungement. It does not mean something went wrong. It means there are two different systems involved, and they don't automatically talk to each other.
The Short Answer
Michigan expungement and automatic set-aside affect your official Michigan criminal history record. That is a specific, bounded thing — the record that the Michigan State Police maintains.
It does not update every database that has ever contained information about your case. Background check companies, court record aggregators, and online people-search sites built their own databases. They update on their own schedules. Some update slowly. Some don't update until someone disputes a record specifically.
That gap between your official Michigan record and what appears elsewhere is real, structural, and well-documented. It is not unique to your situation.
Two Different Systems
When people say "background check," they usually mean one of two very different things — and understanding the difference matters.
Michigan's official criminal history record. This is what the Michigan State Police maintains. ICHAT (the Internet Criminal History Access Tool) shows it. When a conviction is expunged or automatically set aside, this is the record that changes. If an employer or landlord runs a background check that queries the state's criminal history records, they should not see a set-aside conviction.
Consumer background reports. These are reports produced by private companies — Checkr, Sterling, Accurate Background, HireRight, First Advantage, and others. These companies maintain their own databases, built from court records and public documents they've collected over time. They do not receive automatic updates when Michigan processes an expungement. Their databases reflect what the records looked like when they last pulled data from a particular source.
These two systems operate independently. A conviction can be cleared from Michigan's official system while still appearing in a third-party database.
How Third-Party Background Check Companies Build Their Data
Background check companies source their data from court records — either by sending people to courthouses, accessing electronic court records, or purchasing data from court record vendors. They do this periodically, not in real time. A company might update records from a particular county every few months, or on some other schedule that varies by location.
When a Michigan conviction is set aside, the court record is updated. But the background check company doesn't learn about this automatically. They would only learn it the next time they pull updated data from that court — which could be weeks or months away — or not until they receive a dispute that prompts a reinvestigation.
This is why a record that appears cleared on ICHAT can still show up on a consumer background report. The consumer report is a snapshot from an earlier point in time.
What Expungement Clears and What It Doesn't
What changes with Michigan expungement or automatic set-aside:
Your official Michigan criminal history record. The conviction becomes non-public for most purposes. An official Michigan background check — through ICHAT or law enforcement — should no longer show the conviction for most requestors. Michigan law generally prohibits most employers from considering set-aside convictions in hiring.
What doesn't change automatically:
Third-party consumer background report databases. Federal records, including FBI records, which operate separately from state expungement. Certain professional licensing board records. Records that appeared in news coverage, public documents, or other content indexed by search engines.
Some of these can be addressed through separate processes. Some cannot be fully resolved. Knowing which category your situation falls into is the starting point.
Key insight: Expungement changes what is true about your record.
It does not instantly update every place that ever stored information about you. Those are different things.
What This Means for Employment
For most employers running formal background checks, the practical question is which type of check they're using.
If an employer uses a consumer reporting agency (which most do), the check is governed by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and by Michigan law. Michigan law generally prohibits employers from considering expunged convictions in employment decisions. If a consumer background report includes a conviction that has been expunged or set aside, the reporting company may be including information it isn't supposed to include — and the employer may not be legally permitted to act on it.
This matters for two reasons. First, even if an expunged conviction appears on a consumer report, using it against you may be something an employer isn't allowed to do. Second, the background check company has a legal obligation to investigate and correct the record if you dispute it.
This is general information, not legal advice. What type of check was run, how the information was used, and the specific facts of your situation affect what your options are. But understanding the framework is useful before doing anything.
What You Can Do About It
For consumer background reports (employer checks):
The main avenue is the dispute process. Under the FCRA, consumer reporting agencies are required to investigate disputes within a specific timeframe and remove information that cannot be verified as accurate. An expunged or set-aside conviction that still appears in a consumer report is arguably unverifiable — because the underlying court record has changed.
Disputing involves contacting the background check company directly, stating that the conviction has been set aside or expunged, and providing documentation. The expungement order itself is the primary document. The company is then required to investigate. Outcomes vary, and the timelines differ by company, but this process often works.
For people-search sites (Spokeo, BeenVerified, Whitepages, and similar):
These are separate from consumer background check companies and operate under different rules. Most have their own opt-out or removal request processes. Requesting removal is tedious, and removal from one site doesn't remove from others. But these sites are generally less consequential than a formal employer background check report, and removal requests often work if you're willing to go through the process for each site.
What to Realistically Expect
Your official Michigan record should reflect the expungement or set-aside once it's processed. You can verify this by running an ICHAT check on yourself at apps.michigan.gov/ichat — this confirms what an official Michigan background check currently shows.
Consumer background report databases update on their own schedules. Some will update relatively quickly once they pull new data from Michigan court records. Others lag. If you're dealing with a specific employer background check right now, the dispute process is the most direct route.
The overall trajectory is that the gap between your official record and third-party databases tends to narrow over time, particularly after disputes are filed. It's a process, not a moment. The records don't all update simultaneously on the day expungement is processed.
If you're dealing with an active situation — a specific background check for a job you're currently pursuing — the most useful first step is identifying exactly which company ran the check and what type of check it was. That determines your options.
EraseMyCrime provides general educational information about Michigan expungement. This is not legal advice. If you're dealing with a specific situation — a disputed background check, an employment decision, or a legal question about your record — a Michigan attorney or legal aid organization can advise you based on the details of your case.