How Long Does an Eviction Stay on Your Record?

An eviction can stay on your tenant screening report for up to seven years under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), counted from the date the court entered the case or judgment. A tenant screening report, also called a tenant background check, is the report a landlord orders from a screening company when you apply. The eviction itself does not appear on your credit report, although unpaid rent sent to collections can. In some states, the record can come off much sooner.

How long does an eviction stay on your record?

The federal rule is seven years, and it comes straight from the statute. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(2), no consumer reporting agency may include "civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest" that "antedate the report by more than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period." A tenant screening report is a consumer report, so the limit applies to it.

The CFPB says "eviction court cases could be on your tenant screening record for up to seven years." The FTC says most civil lawsuits and judgments, including housing court cases, can't be included in a report after seven years.

The seven-year rule does not erase the court's own file. The FCRA limits what screening companies put in a report. A courthouse docket is a separate record, and whether it stays publicly searchable depends on your state.

What counts as an eviction record, and who keeps it?

The phrase covers three separate records, and they don't all follow the same clock. An eviction case usually starts with an eviction notice and becomes a record once the landlord files in court. According to the FTC, a tenant background check can include "housing court records, for example, records related to eviction actions." A filing can show up even if the case was later dismissed. The CFPB warns that many landlords will not rent to an applicant whose screening report shows an eviction filing.

Record	Who holds it	How long it lasts
Court docket (the eviction case itself)	The state court	Depends on state law; some courts seal it
Tenant screening report	Tenant background check companies	Up to seven years under the FCRA
Credit report	The credit bureaus	Never the eviction itself; a collection account for unpaid rent can stay up to seven years

The screening report is the one landlords actually read. Per Experian, it may bundle your rental and credit history, employment verification, a criminal history report, and sometimes a risk score built for landlords.

A landlord who changes the locks or removes your belongings without a court case has not created an eviction record, because there is no court filing to report. That is a separate problem, covered in our guide to illegal eviction and tenant rights.

Does an eviction show up on your credit report?

No. Experian says: "Evictions aren't part of your consumer credit report, but they may appear in tenant screening reports." According to Experian, bankruptcy filings are the only public records that are part of a credit report.

Unpaid rent or fees can reach your credit report if the landlord sends the debt to a collection agency. The collection account can appear in your credit reports and hurt your scores. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(4), accounts placed for collection can't be reported once they are more than seven years old, and § 1681c(c)(1) starts that seven-year period 180 days after the delinquency began. Experian puts it more simply: the collection account "can stay there for up to seven years from the date your payment was past due."

Paying the collection doesn't shorten that period, though it may help when a landlord reads the report. For the dispute and removal options, see how to remove collections from your credit report.

When does the seven-year clock start?

The clock runs from the date of entry, meaning the day the court entered the suit or judgment, not the day you moved out. The statute bars reports from including civil suits and judgments that "antedate the report by more than seven years." So a judgment entered in June 2020 can appear on a report pulled through June 2027. After that, it generally can't be included.

Paying the judgment later doesn't restart the clock. The case ages out on schedule whether you paid or not, though payment changes how the report reads in the meantime.

Two wrinkles can stretch the reporting period. If the governing statute of limitations in your state runs longer than seven years, that longer period controls. Bankruptcies follow a separate timeline and can appear for up to ten years. The CFPB notes that a debt or money judgment owed to a landlord and later discharged in bankruptcy could stay on your tenant screening history for ten years. Criminal convictions have no time limit at all.

Which states seal or hide eviction records sooner?

Several states shorten the time a record can affect renters by sealing the court file or limiting who can see or use it. Once a case is sealed, it is no longer available as a public record, so it should stop appearing in background checks. Enforcement can be imperfect, as the TransUnion case below shows.

California. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 1161.2, unlawful detainer (eviction) court files are restricted to the parties and a few others. The file opens to "any other person 60 days after the complaint has been filed" only if the landlord won a judgment against all defendants within those 60 days. If the landlord wins after a trial held later than that, the court opens the file by order when it enters the judgment. A California case that is dismissed, or that the tenant wins, stays out of general public view.
Oregon. Under House Bill 2001, passed in 2023, courts set aside and seal eligible eviction judgments once a year, each December, for judgments entered after January 1, 2014. The wait is five years if the judgment required you to move out and 12 months if you signed an agreement with the landlord instead of going to trial. There is no wait if you won or the case was dismissed. A money judgment must be paid before the record can be sealed. Data the state courts released in January 2025 showed over 47,000 eviction records had been sealed, out of about 160,000 cases reviewed.
Other states. Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Washington also have sealing or limited-access laws for eviction records, according to an October 2026 review by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Use restrictions. The CFPB notes that some states prohibit the use of eviction lawsuit information in rental decisions. In those states, a landlord shouldn't hold that court record against you, even if the record still exists.

Sealing often does not happen on its own. The CFPB points out that you may have to take steps yourself to seal or expunge the record, so check with your state court or a legal aid office. Even where sealing is automatic, you may not hear about it: Oregon's courts won't notify you when your record is sealed, so you have to check the court system's online records search to confirm it happened.

How to check your record and dispute eviction errors

When a landlord rejects you, charges you more rent, or requires a cosigner or a larger deposit because of a report, the landlord must give you an adverse action notice with the name, address, and phone number of the tenant background check company, per the FTC. You can ask that company for a free copy of the report if you request it within 60 days of getting the notice.

If you find an error, the FTC says tenant background check companies must investigate your dispute within 30 days. The CFPB recommends disputing with both the company that generated the report and the person or company that furnished the information.

Errors are common. In reports issued on November 15, 2022, the CFPB analyzed more than 24,000 complaints about tenant background checks. Renters had submitted more than 16,000 complaints about incorrect information on their reports. The FTC lists common errors such as information that belongs to someone else, duplicate entries that look like separate cases, and incomplete information about how an eviction action was resolved. Reports can also include information that is legally too old to report, or eviction information that was sealed or expunged.

In October 2023, the FTC and CFPB announced a $15 million settlement with Trans Union LLC and its subsidiary TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions over charges that their tenant screening reports included inaccurate and incomplete eviction records. The order requires them to pay $11 million to compensate consumers and a $4 million civil penalty. The agencies said the screening unit failed to keep sealed eviction records out of its reports. Until April 2021, it often reported developments in the same eviction proceeding as separate events. In some cases it reported that an eviction was filed without reporting that the case had been dismissed.

"Consumers struggling to find housing shouldn't be shut out by tenant screening reports that are ridden with errors and based on data from secret sources," said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, when the settlement was announced.

If the screening company won't fix the problem, you can submit a complaint to the CFPB online or by calling (855) 411-CFPB (2372). If the FCRA was violated, the CFPB notes you may have the right to sue. Deadlines apply, so move quickly.

How to rent an apartment with an eviction on your record

These steps can improve your odds even when the eviction record is accurate.

Pull your reports before you apply. Check your credit report, and ask any tenant screening company you know has a file on you for a copy. The FCRA requires consumer reporting companies to give you the information in your file when you ask.
Bring your paperwork. If your case was dismissed or you paid a judgment, carry the court's dismissal notice or a satisfaction-of-judgment document to show the landlord.
Be upfront. Explaining what happened, especially if the case was dismissed or resolved, often goes better than letting a landlord find a bare filing on a screening report.
Offer a cosigner or a bigger deposit. Either can ease a landlord's worries, where state law and the building allow it.
Ask about sealing. A local legal aid office can tell you whether your state lets you seal or expunge the record. It also helps to know how the eviction court process works, because the way your case ended often decides whether it can be sealed.

None of this guarantees approval, but it can clear up old entries and duplicates, or address a record that should have been sealed but wasn't.

An eviction case can follow you for about seven years, and the quickest way to shorten that is to learn exactly what your report says and whether your state lets you seal it.

Frequently asked questions

Can unpaid rent from an eviction hurt your credit score?

Yes, if the debt goes to collections. Experian states that "evictions aren't part of your consumer credit report," but unpaid rent sent to a collection agency can show up as a collection account. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(4) and (c)(1), that account can be reported for up to seven years, counted from 180 days after the delinquency began. The eviction case itself never reaches your credit report.

Does an eviction filing show up even if the case was dismissed?

It can. A tenant background check can include housing court records related to eviction actions, and the filing itself may appear regardless of how the case ended. The CFPB warns that many landlords will not rent to an applicant whose screening report shows an eviction filing. If the report leaves out the dismissal, that is incomplete information you can dispute.

When does the seven-year clock start on an eviction?

It runs from the date of entry, the day the court entered the suit or judgment, not from your move-out date. Paying the judgment later does not restart the clock. If your state's statute of limitations runs longer than seven years, the statute says the longer period controls.

Can you get an eviction removed from your record?

Sometimes, depending on your state and the accuracy of the entry. If the record is wrong or outdated, or was sealed, you can dispute it with the tenant background check company, which must investigate within 30 days, according to the FTC. Several states, including Oregon and California, seal or limit access to eviction court records. A legal aid office can tell you whether you qualify.

Sources

This article is general legal information about eviction records, tenant screening and credit reporting, not legal advice. Reporting periods, record sealing and tenant rights depend on your state and your situation. For advice on your situation, contact a tenant attorney or legal aid office licensed in your state.

Featured image: photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash.