Stop an eviction from showing up on tenant screening reports

Tenant screening companies report filed eviction lawsuits. Even if the eviction lawsuit was dismissed (canceled), tenant screening companies will report the eviction case to potential landlords. Landlords may consider you a higher risk and deny your application because of the reported eviction. Eviction records can stay on tenant screening reports for up to 7 years.

But if you get a court Order to Limit Dissemination (OLD) in an eviction case, tenant screening companies cannot report that eviction case to potential landlords in screening reports. They also cannot use that eviction case in calculating a rental score or making a recommendation about whether the landlord should rent to you. 

To get an Order to Limit Dissemination, you must ask the court where your eviction was filed for an order that stops these companies from using the eviction record. 

After the judge signs the Order, you have to send copies of the Order to tenant screening companies so they will not report the eviction court record in a screening report. 

An Order to Limit Dissemination stops tenant screening companies from reporting about the eviction case. 

An Order to Limit Dissemination does not:

• Stop a potential landlord from asking if you have ever been evicted
• Stop a potential landlord from looking up the records on their own
• “Seal” or “vacate” the eviction record or make it disappear from official court records

But it can make it easier to find rental housing by removing an eviction record from the tenant screening reports most commonly used by landlords.

Domestic violence survivors only: If you were not at fault for your eviction, you can try to get the court to black out your name (redact) or change the court record, so your name does not appear. The law permits this only in a few cases. Try to get legal help with this.