How Long Do Evictions Stay on Your Record in California?

In California, an eviction can appear on tenant screening reports for up to seven years from the date the court entered judgment. The underlying court file can stay accessible longer than that, though, unless a judge orders it sealed. So the honest answer to how long evictions stay on your record in California is two answers: seven years for the screening report a landlord orders, and potentially indefinitely for the court record itself.

The Seven-Year Limit on Screening Reports

Tenant screening reports are consumer reports, which means the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act governs how long negative items can appear on them. Civil lawsuits and judgments, including eviction cases, cannot be reported more than seven years after the date the judgment was entered.¹

The clock starts on the judgment date, not the date you moved out or fell behind on rent. After seven years, tenant screening companies are prohibited from including the eviction in their reports.²

Any unpaid rent or damage judgments that came out of the eviction can also sit on your credit report for up to seven years. That means even once the eviction itself ages off screening reports, the money side of it may still show up when creditors pull your file.

How Long the Court Record Stays Accessible

The seven-year FCRA cap only applies to screening companies. The actual court file from an unlawful detainer case has no automatic expiration. It can remain in the court’s system indefinitely unless a judge orders it sealed.

California does restrict who can see these files more tightly than most civil cases. Under Code of Civil Procedure Section 1161.2, an unlawful detainer file is not open to the general public. Access is limited to the parties and their attorneys, anyone who can give the clerk a plaintiff name plus a defendant name plus the property address, current residents of the property who show proof of residency, and anyone with a court order for good cause.³

That restriction has a major exception. If the landlord obtains a judgment within 60 days of filing the complaint, the file opens to the general public after that 60-day mark. If the case takes longer and the landlord still wins at trial, the court must unmask the record when it enters judgment. If the case is dismissed, you win, or it settles without a judgment against you, the record stays restricted.³

A restricted record is not a hidden record. Tenant screening companies routinely pull court data using name and address information, and that combination is one of the permitted access methods. The restriction mostly blocks casual browsing, not the targeted screening a landlord orders on a specific applicant.

Pandemic-Era Nonpayment Cases

If your eviction was filed between March 4, 2020, and September 30, 2021, and it was based on unpaid rent, the normal rule that opens the file after a landlord win does not apply. Amendments made by AB 832 keep the restricted-access framework in place indefinitely for these pandemic-era nonpayment filings, regardless of outcome.⁴³

If your case falls in that window and was about rent, the record should stay restricted from general public access even if the landlord ultimately won.

Getting the Court Record Sealed

Sealing goes further than the default restriction. A sealed record is pulled out of the court’s public-facing databases entirely, so it should not surface even when a screening company searches by your name and address.

You have the strongest case for sealing when there is no judgment against you: the case was dismissed, you won at trial, or the parties settled and you complied with the settlement. If your settlement includes a stipulation that both sides will ask the court to seal, that is worth pushing for during negotiation, because CCP 1161.2 lets the court bar access when both parties agree.³ A court also has discretion to seal after a landlord victory, but that is harder to obtain and usually requires a significant change in circumstances.

Filing the Motion

Sealing requires a court order. Under California Rules of Court, Rule 2.551, a judge cannot seal a record based on the parties’ informal agreement alone; someone has to file the motion.⁵

Before you file, pull together your case number, the courthouse and department that handled the case, the landlord’s or landlord’s attorney’s contact information, and a copy of the final judgment, dismissal order, or settlement agreement. File in the same superior court that decided the unlawful detainer.

Your filing needs to include the motion, a memorandum explaining why sealing is justified, and a declaration with the supporting facts. Attach the settlement agreement if you are relying on a sealing clause in it. The motion must be accompanied by a lodged copy of the record you want sealed.⁵

Someone who was not a party to the original case has to serve the papers on the landlord or their attorney. Service can be by hand or by mail. If you serve by mail, the hearing date must be at least 16 court days after service, plus five additional calendar days for mailing. Court days exclude weekends and judicial holidays.⁵

Filing fees apply. If you cannot afford them, you can apply for a fee waiver using Judicial Council form FW-001, available from the court clerk or online. You qualify if you receive certain public benefits, have low income, or can show that paying court fees would prevent you from meeting basic needs.⁶

The court will set a hearing. A judge may rule from the bench or take the matter under submission and mail the decision. If the motion is denied, you have 10 days to tell the court whether you want the lodged record filed unsealed or returned.⁵

Disputing Errors on a Screening Report

Sealing addresses the court file. If the problem is on a screening report itself — an eviction that was not yours, a dismissed case showing as a judgment, or a record still appearing after seven years — you dispute it directly with the screening company under the FCRA.

If you were denied housing based on a screening report, you are entitled to a free copy of that report within 60 days of the denial. Request it from the screening company named in the landlord’s adverse action notice.⁷

Send your dispute in writing, identify the specific errors, and include copies (not originals) of supporting documents such as a dismissal order or proof of a paid or vacated judgment. The company has to reinvestigate within 30 days of receiving your dispute, or up to 45 days total if you provide additional documentation during the reinvestigation. If it cannot verify the disputed information, it has to correct or delete it.⁸

Keep proof of when you sent the dispute and any responses. If a company ignores you or fails to correct verified errors, you may have grounds for a lawsuit under the FCRA.

Checking What Landlords Will See

Before you start applying, find out what is actually out there. There are two places to look.

Search the court records first. California superior courts run online case indexes searchable by name. Check the county where you lived when the eviction was filed; there is no single statewide search, so each county has to be checked separately. The index will show whether a case exists, its status, and whether it has been sealed.

Then request a copy of your tenant screening report. The major tenant screening companies, including TransUnion’s SmartMove, CoreLogic, and RealPage, maintain databases that may hold your eviction history. Under the FCRA you can request a free copy once a year from each company, and you get an additional free copy from any company whose report was used to deny you a rental in the past 60 days.⁷ Reviewing both the court file and the screening reports gives you the full picture, and a head start on fixing anything that should not be there.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
2
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Can Information, Like Eviction Actions and Lawsuits, Stay on My Tenant Screening Record?
3
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1161.2
4
California Legislative Information. AB 832 – COVID-19 Rental Debt and Eviction Protections
5
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court 2.551 – Procedures for Filing Records Under Seal
6
California Courts. Request to Waive Court Fees
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681j – Charges for Certain Disclosures
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681i – Procedure in Case of Disputed Accuracy