Eviction records keep individuals and families locked in a cycle of poverty; force people to live in unsafe housing; and cause homelessness and a host of other collateral consequences. One commonsense reform to help minimize the negative effects of eviction records is to increase access to and ease of eviction record sealing or expungement and to minimize public access to these records.
Eviction record sealing, in combination with additional tenant protections and reforms, would greatly improve access to safe and affordable housing, especially for the people most often forced to the margins of society. Sign Up. This report includes a discussion of current state policies to expunge and seal eviction records and makes the following recommendations for state policymakers:. Evictions have lasting impacts on millions of low-income and vulnerable populations.
With the U. Supreme Court verdict that stopped the federal eviction moratorium in August , an estimated , renters will likely lose their homes this year alone. An eviction is the process by which a landlord forces a tenant out of the property the tenant is renting—in the case of residential tenancies, their home.
The vast majority of evictions are for nonpayment of the full rental amount, although they can also be issued for alleged lease violations, foreclosure on the property, the property being converted to a different use, and other reasons. Landlords initiate the eviction process by serving a tenant with notice to vacate.
In many cases, these notices fail to comply with applicable legal requirements. But because of the lack of legal advocates available to tenants, these defective notice claims generally go unchallenged. Tenants are then issued a legal complaint and a summons to appear in court. Many tenants—especially those who are being evicted for nonpayment and who do not have the funds to pay—do not appear in court because they do not see the utility in doing so when they have no defense.
When tenants fail to appear, courts in most states issue default judgments against them—meaning that unlike in criminal court, where a defendant cannot be convicted in their absence, the court in an eviction action can order the tenant to be evicted and left with an eviction record even if the tenant never appeared in court. When tenants do appear, most states allow cases to be resolved through settlement or a stipulated agreement between the tenant and the landlord as well as through a full hearing.
The lack of legal representation for tenants appears again in this process and results in the inability of many tenants, who for the most part have no legal knowledge, to raise potential defenses to eviction. During the COVID pandemic, the government enacted a number of tenant protections to prevent evictions, including federal- and state-level moratoriums on evictions and the development of emergency rental assistance programs across the country.
But even with these protections and moratoriums in place, a number of states and cities have continued to proceed with eviction cases. Without further protections for renters, the nation will face the largest mass eviction crisis to occur in the United States.
Overall, rent burden has grown as housing costs rise and wages remain stagnant, 8 with nearly half of all renters in the United States reporting being moderately or severely cost burdened, meaning that they pay more than 30 percent to 50 percent of their income on rent. This lack of affordable housing increases the risk of eviction, especially for low-income renters.
Evictions disproportionately affect some households more than others. During the COVID pandemic, disabled renters expect to face eviction in the coming months at disproportionate rates, 12 and renters of color are less likely to be caught up on rent.
And according to data from the U. Census Bureau, 22 percent of Black households were not caught up on rent, with 18 percent of Latino households and 19 percent of Asian households similarly behind, compared with just 10 percent of white households. Evictions occur under a variety of circumstances. Landlords sometimes use the threat of eviction as a way to redefine renters who owe rent arrears as debtors and subsequently use court resources as a method of rent collection.
Serial eviction patterns occur often in large low-income housing complexes as a uniform threat by landlords, often corporate landlords and investors, across hundreds to thousands of units each month. Furthermore, during eviction hearings, 90 percent of landlords have legal representation, compared with less than 10 percent of tenants, further privileging landlords over tenants in these proceedings.
Rent burden, the affordable housing shortage, landlord wealth-building strategies, and systemic inequalities that disproportionately make communities of color, women, and disabled people more vulnerable are some of the many contributors to the more than 2 million renter households who, before the COVID pandemic, had an eviction case filed against them each year. The threat of eviction, even if not carried out, leads to negative physical and mental health outcomes.
I was never even served papers, so I missed the court date. Since her eviction, Jaycee has completed a medical certificate program and secured stable employment.
But, because of her eviction record, she has not been able to find an apartment and landlord who will rent to her. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there may be eviction relief options available. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has posted information about current eviction protections, legislation, options for assistance and tips for communicating with your landlord on its website. You may also be able to take advantage of other options for financial assistance that are being offered during this unprecedented time, such as payment accommodations being offered by some lenders.
This could help free up resources that you may be able to put toward rent payments instead. If you are facing financial difficulty or have had credit difficulties in the past, reviewing your credit reports regularly can help you get back on track.
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Additionally, you may obtain a free copy of your report once a week through April at AnnualCreditReport. Editorial Policy: The information contained in Ask Experian is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. You should consult your own attorney or seek specific advice from a legal professional regarding any legal issues.
Please understand that Experian policies change over time. Posts reflect Experian policy at the time of writing. While maintained for your information, archived posts may not reflect current Experian policy. House Bill says a tenant who is a defendant in an eviction lawsuit could have their name removed from the records and that the records would be confidential and exempt from public records laws.
Excluded from protection under this bill are people who have had a judgment against them in two or more eviction proceedings in a year and people who have had a judgment against them in three or more eviction proceedings in a two-year period, according to the bill. Harradine said the exclusion of tenants who have had multiple eviction proceedings is an attempt to alert landlords of renters who may have chronic issues.
Amanda Gill, Florida Apartment Association government affairs director, said simply turning away tenants because of an eviction filing without looking at the specifics is not the most common case for landlords. Gill said survey data of their members shows landlords are two to three times more likely to work with tenants on a payment plan than to file an eviction. If an eviction is filed and a renter owes a debt, that unpaid debt could potentially hurt credit scores and tenants could instead be denied because of that.
Potential real estate investors, developers or landlords could decide not to build or rent, which could skew both the market-rate and affordable housing markets in Florida in a time when there are shortages of both, Gill said. More: Sarasota County families behind on utility bills find relief from local foundations, donors. Ryan McCain, an attorney who represents landlords and apartment communities, and is a landlord himself, said most of the multifamily apartment communities his firm represents will not automatically deny someone for having an eviction lawsuit filed against them and that they will view the judgment of the case.
Apartment communities file eviction lawsuits a small percentage of the time, McCain said, as a last resort, and most landlords try to work with tenants to avoid that.
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