No. A felony conviction does not go away after 7 years. Under federal law there is no time limit on how long a conviction can appear on a background check, and the record itself stays in court files indefinitely unless you take legal action to clear it. The seven-year figure that circulates online comes from a rule about arrests and other non-conviction information, not convictions.
Where the Seven-Year Idea Comes From
The confusion traces to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the federal law that governs what background check companies can put in their reports. The FCRA bars consumer reporting agencies from including arrests and other adverse non-conviction information older than seven years. The statute carves out a clear exception: “records of convictions of crimes” are not subject to this time limit.1Federal Register. Fair Credit Reporting; Background Screening A felony conviction from 10, 20, or 30 years ago can legally appear on a background check.
There is also a salary-based exception that cuts the other way. When a position pays $75,000 or more per year, even the seven-year limit on non-conviction records falls away, and a background check company can report older arrests and adverse items.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports For convictions, salary is irrelevant because there was never a time limit to begin with.
States That Do Cap Conviction Reporting
About a dozen states go further than federal law and restrict the reporting of convictions after seven years. California prohibits background check companies from reporting convictions older than seven years. Massachusetts, Montana, and New Mexico apply similar seven-year windows. Kansas, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Washington limit conviction reporting for jobs paying below a certain salary threshold, sometimes as low as $20,000. In those states the seven-year mark has real practical effect for many jobs, but the conviction itself still exists in court records. It is not gone; it is just harder for some employers to see.
How a Felony Actually Comes Off Your Record
The two main legal tools are expungement and sealing. They sound similar and are often used interchangeably, but they produce different outcomes.
Expungement
Expungement treats the conviction as though it never happened. Court records are destroyed or removed, and in most states you can legally deny the conviction on job applications. A majority of states now allow at least some felony convictions to be expunged, though eligibility varies dramatically. Violent felonies, sex offenses, and crimes against children are almost universally excluded.3National Conference of State Legislatures. Record Clearing by Offense The process requires filing a petition with the court that handled the original case. Judges weigh rehabilitation, time elapsed, and whether you have stayed out of trouble.
Sealing
Sealing hides the record from public view without erasing it. The general public, most employers, and landlords will not see a sealed record, but law enforcement and certain government agencies still can. Sealing is often easier to obtain than expungement, with broader eligibility. The tradeoff is that a sealed record can resurface for law enforcement positions, government security clearances, and similar contexts.
Automatic Clearing Under Clean Slate Laws
More than a dozen states and Washington, D.C. now have some version of automatic record clearing on the books. The typical structure sets an eligibility window, often seven to ten years after completion of the sentence, and automatically seals qualifying convictions if the person has stayed conviction-free during that period.
Michigan automatically seals certain non-violent felony convictions after ten years. New Jersey’s Clean Slate law allows almost all arrests and convictions to be expunged automatically after ten years. This is the closest thing that exists to a felony “going away” on its own, and it is not universal, not immediate, and rarely as short as seven years.
How Long You Actually Have to Wait
Every state that allows felony expungement or sealing imposes a waiting period after you complete your sentence, including any probation, parole, or supervised release. Waiting periods run from three years for lower-level felonies in some states to fifteen years for more serious offenses. A common range for non-violent felonies is five to ten years.3National Conference of State Legislatures. Record Clearing by Offense
During the waiting period you have to remain conviction-free. A new conviction does not just pause the clock; in many states it restarts it entirely. Even a misdemeanor can reset your eligibility window by several years. Traffic infractions and violations that do not rise to the level of a misdemeanor typically do not affect eligibility, but anything above that threshold can set you back significantly. You also need to have finished paying fines, restitution, and court costs before the clock even starts.
Federal Felony Convictions
If your felony is a federal conviction, the picture is bleaker. Federal convictions generally cannot be expunged. There is no federal equivalent to state expungement statutes for adult felony convictions.4U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services, Southern District of Mississippi. How Do I Have My Conviction Expunged?
The one narrow exception is 18 U.S.C. ยง 3607, which allows expungement for first-time simple drug possession offenses. You must have had no prior drug convictions, the court must have placed you on probation without entering a judgment of conviction, and you must have been under twenty-one at the time of the offense.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3607 – Special Probation and Expungement Procedures for Drug Possessors That leaves out virtually all federal felony defendants.
For everyone else, the only federal remedy is a presidential pardon. Applying requires waiting at least five years after release from confinement, or five years after sentencing if no prison time was imposed. For offenses involving drugs, tax fraud, perjury, violent crimes, or public corruption, the waiting period extends to seven years.6U.S. Department of Justice. Pardon Information and Instructions A pardon does not erase the conviction; it forgives it and restores civil rights.7Constitution Annotated. Legal Effect of a Pardon Approvals are rare. During the most recent full presidential administration, only about 6% of pardon and commutation applications were granted.8U.S. Department of Justice. Past Clemency Action and Statistics
State pardons work through a board of pardons, the governor’s office, or both, and follow their own applications, documentation, and sometimes public hearings. They are discretionary and rarely granted.
Why an Expunged Record Can Still Show Up
Even after a court order clears a conviction, the record can keep appearing in private background check databases. These companies scrape court records, arrest logs, and other public sources continuously. Once data enters their system it tends to stay there. An expungement order binds the court, but it does not automatically propagate to every data broker that captured the information years ago. Clean Slate laws generally do not force those vendors to update either.
Reporting an expunged or sealed conviction can violate the FCRA. A negligent violation means the company owes your actual damages plus attorney’s fees. A willful violation carries statutory damages between $100 and $1,000 per violation, plus potential punitive damages.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681n – Civil Liability for Willful Noncompliance Federal enforcement agencies have brought actions against screening companies for failing to prevent the inclusion of expunged records in their reports.1Federal Register. Fair Credit Reporting; Background Screening
After an expungement or sealing order, send certified copies to the major background check companies yourself. Run your own name through common screening services and dispute inaccurate results. Do not assume anyone will handle this for you.
What Clearing a Record Costs
Court filing fees for expungement or sealing petitions range from nothing in states that waive fees to around $150. The bigger expense is usually legal help. Attorney fees for felony expungement cases generally fall in the $400 to $4,000 range, with more complex cases and more serious underlying offenses pushing costs higher. Add $15 to $90 for certified copies of court records, fingerprinting, and state criminal history reports.
Some states offer fee waivers for indigent petitioners, and legal aid organizations in many jurisdictions handle expungement cases at no cost. If your state has an automatic Clean Slate law and your conviction qualifies, the clearing happens without cost or effort on your part. For everyone else, whether to hire counsel is a cost-benefit call, and a successful expungement can open employment and housing doors that would otherwise stay closed.