After agonizing over this for several months, I've decided to accept a new job and leave Asbury College.
Something like 30 million Americans have some kind of criminal record which is eligible for relief. That is, they have stayed clean for 10 years, and want to get on with their lives. In theory, their record has expired. In reality, they have to fill out a stack of paperwork, which then goes to a judge. Pretty much a rubber stamp process, but a hassle.
But even then, it's not over. Because getting criminal records from the government is such a hassle, there are 30+ companies which make criminal records searchable online. And when the record gets cleared with the government, there's no guarantee that those other companies will purge their database.
So, that's where we come in. EAS - Expungement Assistance Services - provide a service where the client gives us some information, and we get the paperwork done, AND ensure that all of the online databases are purged, so that these folks can get their lives back.
Criminal records are a much bigger deal than they once were. Increasingly, since 2001, it's become a quick way to lose your job due to a background check. Folks who have worked for the Post Office for 40 years, or been a high school teacher for 40 years, are suddenly losing their job due to a shoplifting charge from when they were 18. And in several southern states, including Kentucky, one in four african-american men can't vote in the upcoming election due to their criminal record. Most of these men are eligible for that record to be expunged.
We don't accept clients whose crime involves minors, or whose crime was of a sexual nature. This isn't about putting hardened criminals back into the work force. It's about restoring dignity to people who have demonstrated that they can return to being good citizens, and want to get on with their lives.
Anyways, I'm going to be the manager for the automation, web-based side of things. Up until now, this has been a very person-intensive, paper-intensive process. We're moving it to the web, and letting the client do a lot of the work themselves, in privacy and confidentiality, rather than having to discuss their past with a stranger. It's more complex than it sounds, because not only does each state have its own regulations, but in many places, each COUNTY has its own regulations, so there are hundreds of forms, and thousands of combinations of forms, that any individual may have to fill out.
I have nothing but good things to say about Asbury College. The time there was great. The people are great. My boss, and his boss, and his boss, and his boss, are all exceptional individuals, and it was an honor and privilege to work for them. But this is an opportunity I can't let get away. So I've got a few more weeks at Asbury to wrap things up, and then I'll be diving in right at the end of April.
Good luck on your new endeavour! It sounds like a challenging, but very worthwhile, enterprise.
Congrats and good luck! And... don't piss off your clients:-)
Yeah, yeah, yeah... I still hate you for leaving.
;o)
I take it that your resignation at Asbury wasn't an early April Fool's Day joke? NOW, you tell me!
We all wish you the very best and look forward to seeing you at local I.T. meetings, like LPLUG.
Matsu
Wow. You will be missed. You were are one of those people who are always truly helpful and responsive whenever I called on you or asked a question. Thank you for that. You shined in that quality over your whole dept - you and another person who is recently leaving. Now, who will I turn to for help??!! Not to mention all the programming that you did which were real leaps forward for the institution. True skills and a real servant attitude? You will be missed.
what are your success rates?
I am very interested but hesitant at the same time. It looks like I meet all of your requirements, but I wanted to know what your success rate was? I'd hate to waste $400 on a scam.
Over a year ago I made an agreement with a company called EAS (Expungement Assistance Services) to have an arrest from when I was 19 years old, expunged from my record. EAS charged my $500 up front to start the process. I paid extra to get the process completed more quickly. I was told that the Rapid process would take a few months. It is now 17 months later and I have had to spend even more money on court fee's, mailing, ect. Since I first started dealing with EAS, I have been forced to speak to different people. It seems that many of their employees leave. Which doesn't instill trust in me. Each person makes a different claim, when I ask them something. But what can I do? I paid them, and now I'm stuck dealing with their lies. I called a few days ago asking for a partial refund of $200, which is the extra I paid for the Rapid Processing. The guy, RUDELY, said NO! He said that any problems that have come about are not EAS's problems and that they are exempt from these things. This entire attitude is a giant change from the nice, easy going attitude they used to get me to fork over my money. EAS is a SCAM! They will claim the world to you, but once they have your money, your stuck! The service they offer is called a "Money Pit." Which means you just throw money down a bottomless well. See, once you spend $500, you can't just wake away and EAS knows this! So month after month I have waited. I have had to pay fees for notarizing, fingerprints, certified letters, court fees, the cost has not stopped! For 17 months I have been the one dealing with the courts and lawyers. EAS filled out some paperwork and just moved on. I have been the one to carry this Expungement case on my shoulders. So I paid $500 for a company to help me out, and they spent maybe 1 day doing paperwork, and then left me to fend for myself. On top of the $500, I also paid EAS $9.95 a month for 4 months, for some credit reporting fee's. And since this 17 month ordeal is still not over yet, who knows how many more fee's I'm going to be stuck with! That is why I am filing this complaint. People should know what www.removeit.org,www.clearmyrecord.com, ect does. EAS offers their services through several web sites, but they are all EAS. If you think your going to spend a few hundred dollars and wait a few months, then magically your record will be expunged, Re-Think that! Your going to be like me, after 17 months of annoyances and hidden cost, stuck in a never ending paperwork hell. And the company EAS that you paid, will not have your back during these times. EAS is exempt from these things....
But now there is a complaint on file, so if EAS tries to scam me again, the World will see this and I will file charges with the BBB, the police, anyone and everyone.
EAS (Expungement Assistance Services)
207 East Reynolds Road, Suite 240
Lexington, KY 40517
(800)870-1617
info@removeit.org
www.removeit.org
Do a web search on EAS-Expungement Assistance Services, and their web sites like www.removeit.org,www and clearmyrecord.com. The BBB and FTC has many complaints on file for this company. You are not going to pay $400, you will pay a lot more and wait a very long time. Just look all over the web, these people are scammers. 17 months ago EAS had no complaints that I could find. Now in 17 months, EAS has caused so much suffering and problems for so many customers.
Russell,
Naturally, I can't comment specifically on your case, because to do so would be a bit of a breach of professional ethics. However, no claim is ever made that when you use our service, you're suddenly going to be exempt from court costs. Expunging a record is a COURT process. We help you with the part of the process that you'd otherwise have to do yourself, or hire a lawyer for, but you still have to go through the court process. That's mandated by law, and there's nothing that we can do to eliminate that phase of it, much as everyone would wish that there was. I'm genuinely sorry that this wasn't communicated adequately when you started the process.
Yes, you may indeed have to wait a long time - but you're not waiting for us. You're waiting for a court process, which takes as long as it takes. Nothing we can do will hurry a process that is bound by the courts.
Yes, there are complaints with the BBB. That happens with all businesses. However, you'll find that none of them amounted to a finding that we had behaved inappropriately.
Every day we help numerous people get a second chance at life. Sometimes, it doesn't work out. Perhaps because they aren't eligible for expungement. Perhaps because they got a judge that had a bad morning. Perhaps because the information provided for their forms was incorrect in some way.
My job here is to ensure that the process is as automated as possible, so that fewer mistakes can be made. But the portion of the process that depends on the courts will forever be out of our control. This should be made clear when the process starts, and we attempt to do so.
Meanwhile, I'll bring up your name to the director of operations, and see if he can look into your case. Perhaps there's something that we're waiting on, on our end.
Just for the public record, I spoke with the director of operations, who called this customer, and, last I heard, everything had been resolved to the customer's satisfaction by the end of business that day. Sounds like it was a case of misunderstanding the process, rather than of anything being dropped. Some states take longer to get through the paperwork than others.