Sealing or Expunging Eviction Records

Sealing an eviction record (states also call it masking, shielding, suppressing, or expunging) takes the case out of the court records the public can see, and in some states it also bars tenant screening companies from reporting it. California and Colorado hide eviction cases from the day they are filed and open them to the public only if the landlord wins, while Minnesota, Maryland, and Virginia seal many cases that were dismissed or did not end in an eviction order without the tenant having to ask. In Massachusetts and Illinois you have to ask the court to seal the case; Washington offers an order that restricts screening reports but leaves court records public. Sealing does not cancel any money you still owe the landlord.

States that seal cases automatically

Ask the clerk to confirm that your case was sealed before you rely on it.

If your case is still open, ask for sealing as part of any settlement. A Minnesota court expunges a case when both sides agree, and a Colorado case stays suppressed after a possession order if both sides agree. For how to propose terms, see negotiating with your landlord to avoid eviction.

States where you have to ask the court

• Massachusetts: File the trial court's petition form, signed under penalty of perjury, in the court that heard the case, after all appeals are over. A case that was dismissed or that you won can be sealed at any time, without notice to the landlord. A no-fault eviction (one not based on unpaid rent or a lease violation) can also be sealed at any time, and the court must grant it. An unpaid rent case qualifies once the judgment or payment agreement is satisfied, or 4 years after the case ended if no other unpaid rent eviction was filed against you in Massachusetts in that time and you certify that economic hardship caused the shortfall and left you unable to pay the judgment. A case based on a lease violation qualifies 7 years after it ended if no other case of that kind was filed against you in that time.
• Maryland: For a failure-to-pay-rent case filed on or after October 1, 2024, that ended in a judgment for possession, you can petition to shield it if you used your right of redemption (paid all past-due amounts before the eviction) and at least 12 months have passed since the case ended, or if you have other good cause.
• Minnesota: If your case settled and you did everything the settlement required, the court must expunge it when you file a motion. For any other case, a judge can expunge the file if that is clearly in the interests of justice and not outweighed by the public's interest in knowing about the record.
• Virginia: If you won at trial, or your case was filed before July 1, 2024, and was dismissed or nonsuited with no order of possession, file a petition on the Supreme Court of Virginia's form in the general district court that heard the case. The court expunges the record without a hearing.
• Washington: Ask the court for an order of limited dissemination, which keeps the case out of tenant screening reports. The court record stays public, so a prospective landlord can still look it up directly. A judge can grant one if the landlord's case was sufficiently without basis in fact or law, your tenancy was reinstated (for example, because you paid the rent, costs, and fees within 5 court days after the judgment), or there is other good cause. The order must be in writing.
• Illinois: Ask the court to seal the file. A judge can do so if the landlord's case was sufficiently without basis in fact or law, sealing is clearly in the interests of justice, and those interests are not outweighed by the public's interest in knowing about the record.

If your state is not listed, search your state court's self-help website for eviction sealing or expungement, or ask the clerk. A legal aid office can tell you whether your case qualifies; see finding free legal help for eviction defense.

How to ask for sealing

1. Find your case number and how the case ended, using the court's online case search or the clerk's office.
2. Check whether your case qualifies automatically under the table above. If it does, confirm with the clerk that the sealing has happened.
3. Get the form from the court where the case was filed. Massachusetts and Virginia use statewide forms.
4. File it in that court, and notify the landlord if the law requires it. In Massachusetts, the landlord gets notice of a no-fault, unpaid rent, or lease violation petition and has 7 days to object; if no one objects, the court can decide without a hearing.
5. Keep a copy of the order once the court grants it.
6. Send a copy to every screening company that has reported the case, and dispute any report that still lists it.

Massachusetts landlords must file a notice of satisfaction within 14 days after an unpaid rent judgment or agreement is paid off. If yours does not, ask the court to treat the judgment as satisfied, then file your sealing petition.

What sealing removes from screening reports, and what it does not

Some states make screening companies honor the sealing:

• Massachusetts: A screening company cannot disclose a sealed case or use it in a score or recommendation, and must remove it within 30 days after the sealing. A company that breaks this rule owes you your actual damages plus court costs and attorney's fees. Housing applications that ask about evictions must state that you can answer "no record" for a sealed case.
• Washington: A limited dissemination order also bars a screening company from using the case in any score or recommendation it gives a landlord.
• California: Screening reports cannot include an eviction case you won or one that ended in a settlement agreement.

Sealing has limits. The FTC lists sealed and expunged records among the common errors in tenant screening reports, so dispute any you find. In Massachusetts, the court can still release sealed information when needed to collect a money judgment. Sealing also does not remove a collection account for unpaid rent from your credit reports; see how an eviction affects your credit score and rental history. Cases that are never sealed still fall under federal law, which generally bars screening companies from reporting negative information more than 7 years old. To apply for a new home while a case is still on your record, see how to rent again after an eviction, and for the steps of the case itself, see how long the eviction process takes by state.