How to Remove an Eviction From Your Record in Florida

To remove an eviction from your record in Florida, you file a motion to seal under Florida Statute § 83.626, a 2023 law that lets a tenant who was the defendant in an eviction case ask the court to make the record confidential and replace their name with “tenant” on the public docket. You qualify only if your case fits one of five specific situations, and you can use this relief just once in your lifetime, so it’s worth confirming eligibility before you file.¹

Does Your Case Qualify for Sealing

Section 83.626 lists five paths. Any one of them is enough:

Joint stipulation. You and the former landlord agree to seal the record and file a joint request.
Dismissal. The eviction case was dismissed, for any reason.
Settlement compliance. You resolved the case through a settlement or stipulation and have fully complied with its terms.
Satisfied default judgment. A default judgment was entered against you, and you have since paid any money the judgment ordered.
Satisfied merits judgment, five years later. A judgment was entered against you after trial, at least five years have passed, and any monetary award has been paid.

The last two paths carry a carve-out. If the eviction was based on intentional destruction, damage, or misuse of the landlord’s property rather than unpaid rent, neither the default-judgment nor the five-year-judgment route is available to you.¹

Who Cannot Use This Relief

Two things will disqualify you. First, if you had judgments entered against you in two or more eviction proceedings within any 12-month period, you’re ineligible. Second, if you have already had an eviction record sealed anywhere in Florida, you cannot seal another one. The statute is once-only, and when you file, you have to submit a sworn statement under penalty of perjury confirming you’ve never received this relief from any Florida court before.¹

That last part matters if you have more than one eviction on your record. Pick the case you file on carefully. There’s no second try.

How to File the Motion

You file in the court that handled the original eviction. What happens after that depends on which category you’re using.

When No Hearing Is Required

If the case was dismissed, or if you and the landlord filed a joint stipulation, the court must grant the motion without a hearing. These are the quickest routes.¹

When the Landlord Gets 30 Days to Object

If you’re filing based on settlement compliance, a satisfied default judgment, or the five-year-judgment path, you have to serve a copy of the motion on every party to the original case, which usually means the landlord or the landlord’s attorney. They then have 30 days to file a written objection.

If no objection lands within 30 days, the court must grant the motion. If someone objects, the court sets a hearing, and you’ll need to show you meet the requirements. Come prepared with proof that any monetary award has been paid: payment receipts, bank records, or a satisfaction of judgment from the landlord.¹

Fees and Timing

Filing fees run around $42, though the exact amount depends on the county. A dismissed-case motion with no hearing can be resolved in a few weeks. Anything requiring the 30-day objection window, and possibly a hearing, takes longer, and in busier counties scheduling can push the process out to several months.

What Sealing Actually Does

When the court grants the motion, the eviction case record becomes confidential and drops off public access. Your name is replaced with “tenant” on the court’s progress docket, which is what tenant screening companies typically pull.

Sealing is not erasure. Court staff and certain government agencies can still see the file. For everyday purposes, though, landlords and the screening services they rely on won’t find it.

Automatic Name Removal If You Won

If a court entered judgment in your favor as the defendant in an eviction case, the court is required to substitute your name with “tenant” on the progress docket automatically. You don’t have to file anything.¹

This isn’t the same as full sealing. The case record itself stays open. But because tenant screening companies almost always search by name, taking your name off the docket does most of the practical work.

Cleaning Up Tenant Screening Reports

Getting the court record sealed doesn’t automatically wipe you from private screening databases. Those companies pull data on their own schedules, and a sealed case can sit in their files until someone forces an update.

Federal law helps here. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires tenant screening companies to follow reasonable procedures for accuracy, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has said those procedures must keep sealed records, including sealed eviction proceedings, out of consumer reports.²

If a sealed eviction still shows up on a screening report after your motion is granted, dispute it. The Federal Trade Commission recommends contacting the screening company directly with a written dispute, attaching a copy of the court order granting the seal, following up in writing if you started by phone, and letting any landlord who denied you know a dispute is pending. The company typically has 30 days to investigate, and up to 45 in some cases. If it can’t verify the information or confirms the error, it has to correct or delete it.³

Where to Get Help

Many tenants handle the motion themselves, especially in the dismissal and joint-stipulation paths. If your case sits in a category where the landlord might object, legal aid is worth a call.

Legal Services of Greater Miami offers self-help resources and tenants’ rights materials, including an eviction answer builder.⁴ Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida serves counties including Orange, Seminole, Brevard, and Volusia and handles housing matters.⁵ Florida Law Help at floridalawhelp.org gathers referrals from legal aid organizations statewide.⁶

The state court system runs DIY Florida, a guided tool for building legal documents, which can then be filed through the E-Portal or in person at the clerk of court.⁷ The Florida Courts website also keeps a directory of legal aid organizations by county for tenants who can’t afford an attorney.⁸

1
Florida Senate. CS/HB 1417 (2023) – Section 83.626
2
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CFPB Addresses Inaccurate Background Check Reports
3
Consumer Advice (Federal Trade Commission). Disputing Errors on Your Tenant Background Check Report
4
Legal Services of Greater Miami. Self Help
5
FFLA. Florida Legal Aid Programs
6
Florida Law Help. Home
7
Florida Courts. DIY Florida
8
Florida Courts. Legal Aid