To find an eviction record, go to the county court where the case was filed: you can search the court’s online portal, visit the clerk’s office in person, or pay a tenant screening company to pull records from multiple jurisdictions at once. Eviction lawsuits are civil cases, and the resulting files are public records in most places. Which route makes sense depends on whether you know the county, whether the case is recent enough to have been digitized, and how much accuracy you need.
What You Need Before You Start Searching
An eviction record lives in the county where the landlord filed the lawsuit. Courts are organized locally, not nationally, so searching the wrong county returns nothing useful. Before you open a search page or walk into a clerk’s office, pin down the jurisdiction.
Then gather identifying details. The tenant’s full legal name, including middle initials or suffixes that distinguish them from someone with a similar name, is the baseline. An approximate timeframe, even just the year, helps cut through larger databases. If you have the case number — the alphanumeric code assigned to that one file — use it. The case number skips name-matching entirely and points directly to the record you want. Pulling up the wrong person’s file wastes time and, depending on what you do with it, can create legal problems.
Searching the County Court’s Online Portal
The most accessible starting point is the official website for the county where the eviction was filed. Look for the “Clerk of Court” or “District Court” site, then find the section labeled something like “Public Access,” “Case Search,” or “Civil Records.” The civil division search tool lets you enter a name and pull up matching cases. Results typically show the filing date, case status, and whether a judgment was entered.
Some portals ask you to create a free account or agree to terms of service before showing full docket details. You may also see a disclaimer about the Fair Credit Reporting Act, especially if the search is for tenant screening purposes. Once you locate the right case, the online docket shows a chronological list of filings, from the initial complaint through any final judgment or dismissal. Most jurisdictions provide this at no cost, though a few charge a small per-page fee for downloading documents.
Online records are convenient but not always complete. Older cases may not have been digitized, and some courts redact certain details from their public-facing portals. If the record is incomplete or predates the court’s digital archive, the next stop is the courthouse itself.
Going to the Courthouse in Person
The Clerk of Court at the courthouse where the case was filed holds the most complete version of the file. Most courthouses have public-access computer terminals in the lobby or records room where you can search the internal database and view scanned copies of original filings. For physical paper files, you give the case number to a clerk, who retrieves it from the archive.
Expect to pay for copies. Per-page fees vary by jurisdiction but generally fall between $0.25 and $1.00. Certified copies, which are sometimes required for legal or financial transactions, cost more. Payment methods differ by courthouse. Some still take only cash or money orders, though many now accept credit and debit cards. If you need certified documents, call ahead to confirm the charge and the accepted payment.
Going in person is most useful when online records are incomplete, when the case was never digitized, or when you need the full file including documents like the writ of possession or the return of service. Clerks can help you identify specific documents within a case, which is harder to do through a web portal.
Using a Tenant Screening Service
Private tenant screening companies aggregate court records from thousands of jurisdictions into a single searchable database. You enter a name and state, and the service returns the eviction filings, judgments, and related civil records it has collected. These reports often bundle eviction history with other data like credit information and prior addresses. Fees generally run from $20 to $50 per report, depending on the service and the depth of the search.
The main advantage is convenience. If you don’t know which county the eviction was filed in, or you need to search across multiple states, a screening service does the legwork. The main drawback is accuracy. These companies scrape public databases, and their reports often contain outdated, incomplete, or mismatched information. A case that was dismissed might still show up as an eviction filing without noting the outcome. A sealed record might appear because the screening company hasn’t refreshed its data. People often assume the report is definitive when it is actually a snapshot that can be months or years behind the court’s own records.
Any company that sells tenant screening reports is a consumer reporting agency under federal law and has to follow the rules that come with that status.
How Long an Eviction Can Appear on a Screening Report
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, tenant screening companies generally cannot report civil suits or civil judgments more than seven years old, measured from the date the record was entered.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – Section 1681c That clock covers eviction-related court cases, including the original filing and any money judgment against the tenant.2Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Can Information Like Eviction Actions and Lawsuits Stay on My Tenant Screening Record If a landlord debt was later discharged in bankruptcy, that information can remain on a screening report for up to ten years.
The seven-year limit is a floor, not a guarantee of removal. Some screening companies are slow to purge old records, and the data may linger until someone disputes it. The court record itself does not disappear after seven years either. It simply cannot legally be included in a consumer report used for housing decisions. If you are checking your own history and find an eviction older than seven years still appearing on a screening report, you have the right to dispute it.
If a Record Is Wrong, Outdated, or Not Yours
If a landlord denies your rental application based partly or entirely on information from a tenant screening report, federal law requires them to tell you. The adverse action notice must include the name, address, and phone number of the screening company, a statement that the screening company did not make the decision, and notice of your right to a free copy of the report and to dispute anything inaccurate.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – Section 1681m You have 60 days from receiving that notice to request the free copy of your file from the screening company that supplied it.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – Section 1681j
If the report contains an error — a dismissed case showing as a judgment, a record that belongs to someone else, or an eviction older than seven years — dispute it directly with the screening company. Describe the problem in writing and include supporting documents like a court dismissal order or proof of a sealed record. The company has to investigate and report back within 30 days.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – Section 1681i If it cannot verify the disputed entry, or finds the entry inaccurate or incomplete, it must delete or correct it. Ask the company to send an updated report to any landlord who recently received the old version, and tell the prospective landlord a dispute is in progress. Some will hold the application rather than reject it outright while the investigation runs.6Federal Trade Commission. Disputing Errors on Your Tenant Background Check Report
Put everything in writing. Disputes filed by phone are harder to document and easier for the company to mishandle. Keep copies and send in a way that gives you proof of delivery.
Even when a record is accurate, some states allow tenants to petition to seal or expunge an eviction, often where the case was dismissed, where the tenant won, or where enough time has passed. There is no federal law requiring courts to seal eviction records, so what is available depends on your state. And court-level sealing does not always filter down to private screening databases quickly. If your record is sealed, follow up with any screening company that previously reported it and send documentation of the court order.