It is VERY strange and WEIRD that you would come on this forum and expect to get sympathy from us. Why would you think anybody would have sympathy for a convicted felon. I don't have sympathy for convicted felons. You harmed somebody and hurt not only that person but their whole family. Most felony's are RAPE, MURDER, BATTERY, BURGLARY, DRUGS, ETC... All of which harm other people.

The RE division is right for not giving you a license. You should NOT be given a Real estate license. I wouldn't want my home sold by an ex-felon. You failed to tell us what you were convicted of. How do we know you aren't a RAPIST. Or you could have been convicted of BURGLERY, BATTERY or DRUGS. In addition, if your felony conviction was expunged, then it no longer exists and the RE division could not have found it. So something is not right with your conviction. You must have been convicted of something bad for them to not issue you a license.

The RE division is protecting the public from criminals like you. Find another career path. Do us a favor and don't become a Realtor. I don't want to work side by side with a convicted felon and I don't want a convicted felon inside my client's homes. I don't associate myself with your type. And I should not have to be forced to work with a convicted felon. Find another career path. If the RE lets somebody like you sell homes, and the media gets ahold of the news or you decide to commit your felony acts all over again, then nobody will trust Realtors to sell their homes, and worse yet, there will be another one of your victims who you harmed. So find another career path and move on.

Realtors are honest hard working people who are just trying to make a living. We don't want a convicted felon to be given the title of REALTOR.

I wonder how my ex-brother-in-law got his Nevada RE license - he spent 3 years in jail for attempted murder (my sister) The only reason she's still alive is because the gun jammed.

I posted on another thread how scare I was about not getting my broker's license because of some stuff on my juvenile record and a couple of things that included a DUI and a misdemeanor. Well, I'm happy to announce that my license was issue yesterday by the CA DRE. I'm so excited!!!
So I guess they can only deny you a license if you have committed a crime related with moral turpitude....

Yes, the poster never explained what the arrest was.However, you're being too point fingers at everyone that has been convicted of a crime. I do not support any rapist, or thieves, or anyone who's looking to harm other people. However, sometimes in life we do stupid things, either for doing drugs or getting caught driving under the influence. The lenght of time of these convictions, if they happened 15 to 20 years ago, have nothing to do with the kind of person that I am now.

Your last paragraph said this:

Realtors are honest hard working people who are just trying to make a living. We don't want a convicted felon to be given the title of REALTOR.

Yes, for the most part they are. I've known some agents who are so sleezy. As a loan officer, I never wanted to talk to this people.

I agree with "loneman951". I was a messed up kid when I was younger and I did stupid things. Now I haven't had so much as a speeding ticket since I was seventeen. This isn't because I am scared of getting caught or anything like that, I just grew up. People can change and deserve a second chance sometimes.

I feel bad for people if they made mistakes as young people, but if a person commited crimes later in life I have no sympathy and agree with "needleinahaystack" you don't deserve the privilege of becoming a REALTOR.

Aren't most juvenile infractions expunged from the record after turning 18?

Not generally. Though the records are sealed, they are still available. it takes a filing with the courts to expunge the record.

Hello All,

Happy New Year! I took a long vacation from my PC but I’m happy to be back to read your posts. I finally received the statement of issues I was waiting for and I quickly submitted my request for a hearing. I was told that the process can take up to a year. I had time to get my thoughts together and I left all the venting and B!tch!ng back in ’09. Now I am feeling refreshed and optimistic. We have been having great weather here in So Cal and life is good!

Some of you have asked what my conviction was. My conviction was a 245(A)(1). In California that is an assault with a deadly weapon. The “weapon” was a 1989 Toyota Corolla Coupe. A few years ago I had a brief exchange of words with some woman over some pettiness. I stormed off and as I was busy getting my child and her friends back in my house the woman approached me and said some things that really pushed my buttons and then she fled before I had time to reply. Later that day I was driving down the street and I saw her getting into her car. I wanted to get the last word in so I pulled up right next to her and blew my horn loudly to get her attention. When she turned to face me I gave her a piece of my mind, and yes I called her a name or two, and drove off. After that I went about my business thinking nothing else of it. A few hours later a detective arrived at my door. To make a long story short the woman accused me of trying to strike her with my car. There was no physical contact whatsoever but as I understand under the law prosecutors don’t need to try to prove physical contact but only that there was “ability and intent” to cause injury. I was not handcuffed but asked to drive myself to the police station. There I was STUPID to concede to being interviewed by the detective without being represented by a lawyer. Yeah, before this when I used to watch TV and somebody would say “I want to see my lawyer” I would think “0h, guilty!”. Well, in real life when you know AND exercise your rights you are smart not guilty. (By the way, the “victim” worked for the police department at the time of this incident in a non-sworn position and in the prelim trial she admitted to calling this particularly detective directly the day of the “assault”).

Although I admitted from the beginning to acting stupid by engagig in this petty argument and calling names I always denied intending to strike her with my car. There was an eyewitness backing my account and not the “victim’s”. From early on the DA offered me a plea bargain but I vehemently refused it. I wanted to go to trial and prove my innocence and I actually spent a few months preparing for it. When we were about to go into jury selection a final offer was made to me by the DA: felony charge dropped to a misdemeanor, ten hours of anger management, and 20 days of community service. My young but bright daughter encouraged me to take the bargain instead of going to trial. She feared as I did that in the event of a guilty verdict I would be separated from her since the sentence for such conviction is up to 5 years in state prison. As a single mother I could not afford to take that chance especially since I questioned the quality of defense I would have with my overworked and overwhelmed public defender who I was never truly happy with. Therefore, taking my daughter’s opinion and well-being into account I took the plea bargain.

My 2-year summary probation period is over and the expungement was granted but I had to disclose this conviction in the salesperson application. The application instructions in CA clearly state: “ All convictions must be disclosed, no matter how long ago they occurred…even if the conviction has been dismissed or expunged”.

This experience has been humbling for me. I have learned to take control of my emotions. I have learned not to be too quick to judge others. Before this, when I heard the word “criminal” I used to imagine a shirtless, shaved-head guy with baggy pants and a tattoo across his forehead. Never would I or anyone that knew me have imagined that I would be labeled a criminal. What happened to me can happen to anyone regardless or age or gender.

Needleinahaystack:

There is a phrase that I heard from Dr Wayne W. Dyer that is so smart and so true. I always wanted to share it with someone and now I have the opportunity to share it with you. Here it goes:

“Whenever you judge another human being you do not define THEM with your judgment; you define YOURSELF as someone who needs to judge”.

This is what I want to say to those that have gone through what I went through and to those who think that it can’t ever happen to them: There are NOT only two types of people in the world; there are as many types as there are people. You are not infallible. Think that it can happen and be prepared as if it will happen. Know AND exercise your rights. Know who you are and what you are worth and know that those who label you don’t define you. I cannot advise you not to get angry because anger is a vital human emotion. I can only tell you to walk away and go punch a hole in your own wall or something, you can fix that later.

Thank you for your posts! And congratulations loneman951 on getting your license.

I don't Know AZUL.....If I'm on the panel hearing your apeal and you tell me that "anger is a vital human emotion"... that would rasie a red flag. There is no place in any profession for anger. I can't imagine any profession issuing a license to someone who apparently freely admitted to comitting a crime based upon uncontrollable anger and then years later still claims that anger is a "vital human emotion".... I don't think so. I think anger gets people injured and sometimes killed and there is no room in any profession for angry people who the public must entrust with confidential informamtion and their money. You said you have "learned not to be too quick to judge others", If I was was hearing your appeal that would be a red flag as well. How about learning not to judge others at all. Lest you think I am judging you, I am not. I am judging the words you choose to express yourself. The words you choose to describe yourself go a long way towards telling other people how you will treat others. I don't mean to be standing on a soap box preaching, I mean that as an honest criticism aimed to help not hinder you. Good Luck with your appeal.

Gray,

Let’s say that I’m driving down my street and I see this kid tagging a corner mom-and-pop store with graffiti. I detest graffiti so watching this makes me very angry. Now I will act on my anger because anger is energy and it makes us act. I have 3 choices of what action I should take:

Choice 1: Take out a baseball bat and beat the kid on the head until he dies.
Choice 2: Call my local graffiti hotline and report the kid.
Choice 3: Ask God to make the anger go away so that I can just do nothing and live complacently among tag walls.

I take choice #2. The kid is picked up by the cops and will have to perform community service by painting over graffiti, picking up trash, and thus adding to the beauty and desirability of my community. Wow, what a happy ending. Thank you Anger, it could not have happened without you!

Needles in an earlier post said that he or she does not associate with convicted felons. But I’m curious. If a convicted felon, for example Martha Stewart, comes willing, ready, and able to buy your client’s house on the spot would you turn her away? Would you tell your client that the potential buyer is a convicted felon and advise that she not let her into her home? What if the client doesn’t care about Martha’s past in which case it’s your moral stance vs. your client’s wishes. What would you guys and gals do?

There's a huge difference between Martha Stewart and her "white collar crime" and Azul's choices expounded above. The first choice offered for a property crime (against someone else's propery, mind you) is violence.

I don't know that we would even KNOW - does anyone do a criminal background check on someone before taking them to show properties?

I have a few Buyers where I DO KNOW. There are some people who left Vermont and went elsewhere to commit crimes and get themselves incarcerated.

Now I have a few of them who write from their prison cells talking of what they want to do when they get out. They have addresses like: CSCF Suite 329; 76543 (Colorado State Correctional Facility). A couple are in Kentucky and Virginia too. Vermonters apparently don't believe in keeping really bad people in prison here . . . . we out source them. They have their dreams. I can't ignore them; but maybe every other agent has. Some were upstanding Citizens before going wrong. Some have good law abiding relatives here. Some will never get out . . . . but they have their dreams.

All correspondence is stamped to indicate that it has been opened and read by correctional personnel; and I think there's an implied warning that the same holds true for incoming mail. None of them is really a prolific writer, so it doesn't consume much time. They just want to be kept abreast of the Market for when that special day comes. Dealing with them (and any disclosure issues) when they get out is something to look forward to. A former Appraiser (turned Bank Robber) will be coming by around 2018. I hope he brings money!

I've been thinking about my Appraiser Friend . . . . turned Bank Robber. Not a bad guy really; but the downturn in the Real Estate Market really crimped his lifestyle.

That's why he felt compelled to discover his real life's calling . . . . sticking up Banks. And he got pretty good at it too. But then pulling off one of his last jobs he got sloppy and went to one of the same Banks where he frequently used the ATM Machine. Some of the Human Tellers told the Police that they knew him and that he uses the ATM Machine. A review of the ATM Candid Photos brought up his picture and identity and banking records. That was enough to nail the poor guy. I thought he was smarter than that!

So I'm not really counting on him coming back if he lives long enough to be released from prison. His Wife (also a Broker) has divorced him and sold all of their Real Estate, and auctioned off all of their personal property . . . . and moved away. And I think he's destined to use strictly cash from now on.

And even here in Vermont, he's probably not in line to be re-issued either his Appraiser's License or his Broker's License . . . . both are up in smoke.

There's a lesson in there somewhere; and not just for Appraisers.