To find out if someone has been evicted, you have three practical options: search the civil court records in the county where they rented, run a tenant screening report through a commercial service, or, if you’re checking your own history, request your file directly from a tenant screening company. Evictions are civil lawsuits, so they generate public court records in the jurisdiction where the rental property sits. Which route makes sense depends on who you are and what you’re trying to confirm.
Searching Court Records in the County Where They Rented
Eviction cases are filed in the local court covering the rental property’s address, and the resulting records are generally open to the public. Many county and state courts now run online case search portals where you can look up filings by party name, case number, or case type. Some are free. Others charge a small access fee.
If the court has no online system, or if the online docket only shows a summary, go to the clerk’s office at the courthouse in person. Bring the person’s full legal name, the approximate timeframe, and the city or county where they rented. Clerks will help you locate the file, and copies usually cost a modest per-page fee that varies by jurisdiction.
Expect redactions. Public court records are typically stripped of sensitive personal information like full Social Security numbers and exact birth dates. You’ll see party names, filing dates, and case outcomes, but not everything that appeared in the original documents.
The main limitation of the courthouse route is geographic. You’re searching one county at a time. If the person you’re checking has rented in multiple places, you’ll need to search each one.
Running a Tenant Screening Report
Commercial tenant screening companies pull eviction data from court records nationwide and bundle it with credit and criminal background information. For landlords, this is the standard tool. You run one report instead of searching courthouses yourself.
Pricing scales with what’s included. TransUnion’s SmartMove platform charges $25 for a basic criminal and credit check, $40 for a package that adds eviction records, and $48 for a premium report that also includes income verification.1TransUnion SmartMove. Pricing Comparable services generally run between $30 and $75 per applicant depending on the package.2TransUnion. SmartMove Tenant Screening
These reports are convenient but not infallible. Misidentification is a known problem. When a screening company matches records using only a first and last name, someone else’s eviction can easily end up attributed to your applicant. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has stated that name-only matching violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and that screening companies must use additional identifiers like date of birth, address, or Social Security number.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CFPB Takes Action to Stop False Identification by Background Screeners A screening report is a starting point, not a verdict.
Checking Your Own Eviction History
If you’re a renter trying to see what a future landlord would see, you have a federal right to find out. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, specialty consumer reporting agencies, including tenant screening companies, must provide you with a free copy of your file once every 12 months on request.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – 1681j Charges for Certain Disclosures Each company has its own request process, but they’re required to make it reasonably accessible, including through a toll-free number.
You can also search the court system yourself in any county where you’ve rented. If you were ever served with eviction papers, the filing may still exist in that court’s records even if the case was dismissed or settled. Checking before you apply for your next lease gives you time to catch errors or outdated entries.
Calling Previous Landlords
The most useful information often doesn’t live in any database. Prior landlords can tell you whether rent came in on time, whether the property was maintained, and whether there were lease problems that never made it to court. Rental applications typically ask for prior addresses and landlord contact information, which makes the call straightforward.
The catch: you’re relying on the applicant for accurate contacts, and previous landlords aren’t required to say anything beyond confirming tenancy dates. Treat the call as one data point alongside court records and screening reports.
Reading What You Find: Filings vs. Judgments
This is the point where most people misread an eviction record. An eviction filing is a landlord starting a lawsuit. It is not a finding that the tenant did anything wrong. In many jurisdictions, more than half of filed eviction cases end in dismissal without any judgment against the tenant.
The filing shows up in court records and gets pulled into screening databases almost immediately, often before a judge rules on anything. If you’re the one searching, look past the fact that a case exists and check how it was resolved. A dismissed filing tells you little about reliability. A judgment entered against the tenant is a different matter.
Records That Won’t Show Up
Some eviction records are legally restricted, and others age off reports entirely. If your search comes up empty, one of these rules may be the reason.
Sealed and Expunged Records
A growing number of states restrict public access to eviction records, especially when the case didn’t produce a judgment against the tenant. At least 17 states plus Washington, D.C., now have some form of eviction record sealing on the books. Common triggers for automatic sealing include dismissed cases, cases decided in the tenant’s favor, and settled cases. Some states seal records at the time of filing. Others seal them automatically after a set number of years.
Expungement goes further than sealing. An expunged record is removed from court files entirely, as if the case never existed. A sealed record stays intact but is hidden from public view. Either way, a sealed or expunged record should not appear on a tenant screening report.
The Seven-Year Reporting Limit
Federal law caps how long a consumer reporting agency can include eviction information in a report. Under the FCRA, civil suits and civil judgments cannot be reported if they’re more than seven years old from the date of entry.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – 1681c Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports The clock starts from the date the suit was filed or the judgment was entered, not from the move-out date or the date any debt was paid. Some states impose shorter reporting windows. After the limit passes, the record should drop off any screening report even if it still exists at the courthouse.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act
If you find an eviction on your own screening report that’s past seven years, belongs to someone else, or was sealed, you have a federal right to dispute it with the screening company, which must investigate at no charge.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – 1681i Procedure in Case of Disputed Accuracy
If You’re a Landlord Acting on What You Find
Finding an eviction record is only half the job. Using it to deny an applicant, require a larger deposit, or require a co-signer triggers federal obligations.
You must send the applicant an adverse action notice. The notice has to identify the screening company that supplied the report, make clear the company didn’t make the decision, tell the applicant they can get a free copy of the report within 60 days, and tell them they can dispute the accuracy of what’s in it.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – 1681m Requirements on Users of Consumer Reports Written notice is the safest form for documentation.9Federal Trade Commission. Using Consumer Reports: What Landlords Need to Know
Fair housing law also constrains how you use eviction information. HUD has recognized that evictions fall disproportionately on certain protected groups, and blanket policies that reject anyone with any eviction filing can produce a discriminatory disparate impact even without discriminatory intent. HUD guidance favors individualized assessments: whether the case was dismissed, whether circumstances have changed, whether a voucher now covers rent. Pointing to a third-party screening tool doesn’t shift the liability. If the tool produces discriminatory outcomes, the housing provider remains responsible.10Federal Register. Reducing Barriers to HUD-Assisted Housing