You can run a free eviction check in Florida by searching the online court records maintained by the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the rental property was located. Every eviction lawsuit filed in Florida is a public civil case, and each of the 67 county clerks publishes a name-based search tool on its website at no cost. You do not need an account, a subscription, or a background-check service.
What to Gather Before You Search
Start with the person’s full legal name, including middle name, initial, and any suffix that would appear on a lease. Eviction filings sometimes use a maiden name, a nickname, or a shortened first name, so running a couple of variations catches records an exact-match search would skip.
You also need the right county. Eviction cases are filed where the rental property sits, not where the tenant moved afterward. If you’re not sure which county to try, the Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers site keeps a directory of all 67 clerk offices with links to each records portal.1Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers. Find A Clerk If the person may have lived in more than one county, run a separate search in each.
Searching Online Through the County Clerk
Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.420 opens judicial branch records to public inspection unless a specific exemption applies.2The Florida Bar. Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration Eviction filings aren’t exempt, so every county clerk must make them accessible. In practice, that means a free search tool on the clerk’s website, usually labeled “Court Records Search” or “Public Records.”
On the search page you’ll accept a brief terms-of-service agreement and then enter the name in a “Party Name” field. Most portals let you filter by case type. Choose the filter for civil county court cases or residential evictions so you’re not wading through unrelated criminal, probate, or family matters. The system returns a list of matches, and clicking a case number opens the docket showing every filing, motion, and order. Many counties also let you view scanned images of the complaint and final judgment at no charge, provided the document hasn’t been sealed.
There is no single statewide public portal covering all 67 counties. Florida operates the Comprehensive Case Information System, but access is limited to the judiciary, law enforcement, and state agencies rather than the public.3Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers. Comprehensive Case Information Each county clerk’s website has to be checked on its own.
What the Online File Won’t Show
Clerks automatically redact certain personal identifiers from electronic records. Social Security numbers and bank account, debit, charge, and credit card numbers are kept confidential without anyone having to request it.4Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes Section 119.0714 If you were hoping to verify a person’s identity by matching financial account details, that information isn’t in the public file.
Older cases may not appear online at all. Florida’s judicial retention schedule keeps county civil litigation records for five years, after which they may be archived or destroyed.5The Florida Bar. Florida Rules of Judicial Administration 2.430 Some counties digitized their archives further back; many didn’t. For anything older than five years, an in-person visit is often the only route.
When to Go to the Courthouse Instead
Every Clerk of the Circuit Court office has public computer terminals for searching the court’s internal system. Those terminals sometimes surface records that haven’t reached the external website yet, including older cases and recent filings still being processed. If a case doesn’t appear electronically at all, the civil records counter can pull the physical file from storage.
Viewing costs nothing. Copies do. Florida law caps standard photocopies at $1.00 per page for documents up to legal size, and a certified copy carrying the clerk’s official seal adds $2.00 per document.6The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 28.24 – Service Charges A regular printout works for personal reference. Anything you plan to submit to another court or agency will usually need to be certified.
Reading What You Find
Florida evictions follow the summary procedure set out in Chapter 51 of the Florida Statutes, so cases move quickly and dockets can be short.7The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 51.011 – Summary Procedure The entries that actually tell you what happened are these:
- Complaint for eviction. The opening filing. It means a landlord started the case. It says nothing about whether the landlord won.
- Voluntary dismissal. The landlord dropped the case, which a plaintiff can do before trial without the court’s permission under Florida’s civil procedure rules. Dismissals commonly follow a payment, a move-out agreement, or a settlement. The filing itself still appears in the record, but a dismissal is not the same as a judgment.8The Florida Bar. Florida Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 1.420
- Final judgment for possession. The court ruled in the landlord’s favor. This entry confirms a completed eviction.
- Writ of possession. After a landlord judgment, the clerk issues this order directing the sheriff to remove the tenant. The sheriff must post 24-hour notice on the property before carrying out the removal. A writ in the file means a forced move-out was authorized.9Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 83.62 – Restoration of Possession to Landlord
- Final judgment for defendant. The tenant won and the landlord lost. This can happen when a landlord failed to maintain the property in habitable condition or served a defective notice.10Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 83.60 – Defenses to Action for Rent or Possession
The gap between a filing and a completed eviction is large. Someone sued and then dismissed has a very different history from someone the sheriff removed. Read past the case caption and check how the case ended.
Money Judgments vs. Possession Judgments
Some eviction judgments only decide who gets the property. Others also include a dollar amount for unpaid rent, late fees, or damages. To collect money through garnishment or other enforcement tools, a landlord has to specifically request a money judgment at filing and pay an extra fee. A possession-only judgment lets the landlord reclaim the unit but creates no enforceable debt. When you review a case, check whether the final judgment contains a monetary award, because that signals ongoing financial liability beyond the loss of the apartment.
How Long an Eviction Follows Someone
Two clocks run on eviction records, and they don’t match. The court file itself stays accessible for at least five years under the judicial retention schedule for county civil cases. Tenant screening companies operate under federal law instead.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act lets a consumer reporting agency include a civil suit or civil judgment on a screening report for up to seven years from the date of entry.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports That window applies whether the tenant won or lost. A dismissed case can still surface on a screening report for years if the screening company pulled the filing before the dismissal was entered and never updated its database.
That is the practical value of a free check against the clerk’s records. If you’re looking up your own name, you’re seeing what a future landlord could find. If you’re a landlord, you’re seeing the same raw court data a paid screening service would pull.
If You’re the Tenant and the Record Is Wrong
If a screening report contains an error, whether that’s another person’s eviction attributed to you, a case listed without its dismissal, or a record that should have aged off, you can dispute it directly with the screening company. The company generally has 30 days to investigate, though the deadline can extend to 45 days.12Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Should I Do If My Rental Application Is Denied Because of a Tenant Screening Report If the investigation confirms the error, the company has to correct or remove the entry and notify recent recipients of the report.
A dispute with a screening company doesn’t change the underlying court record. If the court file itself is wrong, contact the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the case was filed and ask them to correct the record. Bringing a copy of the dismissal order speeds that up.
Florida does not currently have a general statute letting tenants seal or expunge eviction records the way criminal records can be sealed. Without a specific statutory framework, sealing depends on the court’s discretion and the facts. A tenant who can show a filing was made in error or that continuing to display it causes disproportionate harm can file a motion to seal, but there’s no guaranteed outcome. The more practical route is usually negotiation: if a case is still pending, a settlement often includes a voluntary dismissal, and a dismissal reads much better than a judgment when a future landlord or screening company reviews the file. Move quickly so the dismissal shows up in the docket before screening companies capture the filing on their own schedules.