How an Eviction Affects Your Credit Score and Rental History

An eviction does not show up on your Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion credit reports: the three nationwide credit bureaus stopped including civil judgments, eviction judgments among them, starting July 1, 2017, so the judgment itself does not lower your credit score. What can lower it is unpaid rent or fees reported by a collection agency, which can stay on your credit reports for up to about 7 and a half years after you first fell behind. The eviction case itself appears on tenant screening reports, the background reports landlords buy, generally for 7 years from the date the case was filed or the judgment was entered.

Credit reports and tenant screening reports show different things

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) found that tenant screening companies did not follow the credit bureaus in dropping judgments, so the eviction case still matters when you apply for your next home.

How long an eviction stays on your rental history

The 7-year limit on reporting an eviction lawsuit or judgment comes from the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and runs from the date the case or judgment was entered. A judgment can be reported for longer if your state gives the landlord more than 7 years to collect it. For a collection account, federal law starts the 7 years 180 days after the missed payment that led to it; paying does not restart that federal period. New York's General Business Law section 380-j(f)(1)(iv) bars reporting paid collection accounts older than 5 years.

Example: you missed the March 1, 2026 rent and never caught up, and the landlord sent the balance to a collection agency. The 180 days run out on August 28, 2026, so the collection can be reported until about August 28, 2033.

Reports that include older records break the law. In 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleged that screening company AppFolio included eviction records more than 7 years old and records with missing or wrong case outcomes, and AppFolio paid a $4.25 million penalty to settle. Your state may set tighter limits than federal law; your rights during tenant screening covers them.

How to get your credit and screening reports

• Credit reports: Get a free report from each of the three bureaus every week at AnnualCreditReport.com, the only authorized site, or by calling 1-877-322-8228.
• After a denial: If a landlord turns you down or adds conditions because of a screening report, it must give you a notice naming the company that supplied the report. Ask that company for your free copy within 60 days.
• Once a year: A screening company that keeps tenant history files on people nationwide must give you your file free once every 12 months if you ask.
• Which companies to ask: Most screening companies have a file on you only after a landlord orders a report, so start with the companies named in any denial notice. The CFPB keeps a list of tenant screening companies with instructions for requesting your file from each.

How to dispute an error

The FTC and the CFPB both point to the same kinds of mistakes in eviction records: a case that belongs to someone with a similar name, a case listed without its outcome, the same case listed twice (for example, after it moved between courthouses), a sealed or expunged case, and information older than the reporting limit.

1. Get court papers showing how the case ended, such as a dismissal, a judgment in your favor, a settlement, or a satisfaction of judgment. Check that the court's own record shows the right outcome; if not, ask the court to correct it or ask your former landlord to send updated information.
2. Dispute in writing with the screening company and include copies of those papers. It generally must investigate within 30 days of receiving your dispute and send you the results in writing. The investigation can take up to 45 days if you provide additional relevant information during the first 30 days.
3. Tell the landlord you applied to that you have disputed the report. Once it is corrected, ask the company to send that landlord an updated report, or send it yourself.
4. Dispute any matching error on your credit reports with each bureau that shows it.
5. Complain to the FTC and the CFPB if a company will not fix a real error. Both enforce the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

What paying or settling the debt changes

Paying a collection account generally does not take it off your credit reports; New York's 5-year limit for paid collections is an exception. Paying can still help your score: under FICO Score 9, a paid account held by a collection agency no longer counts against you. Whether that helps with a particular landlord or lender depends on which scoring model it uses. If you settle for less than the full balance, get the terms in writing before you pay.

A court judgment works differently. Once you pay it in full, ask the landlord to file a satisfaction of judgment, the court's record that the debt is paid, since screening companies copy what the court file says. In Massachusetts, a landlord with a judgment or agreement for unpaid rent must file a notice of satisfaction within 14 days after you pay it, and you can then petition the court to seal the case. Sealing or expunging eviction records covers the rules in other states, and what happens after an eviction judgment explains how landlords collect an unpaid judgment. For the earlier stages of a case, see how long the eviction process takes by state, and when you are ready to apply again, see how to rent again after an eviction.