How to Check for Evictions? A Landlord’s Guide

Are you filling your vacant rental property but don’t know how to choose a potential tenant? There are tenant screening and background checks to find trustworthy and reliable tenants. Hence, an eviction record search can also help you determine whether a tenant has been through an eviction process before with another landlord.

Before learning about an eviction record, let’s understand an eviction. Eviction proceedings are legal processes where landlords evict tenants from their rental property for breaking the lease terms, such as not paying rent, causing property damage, or engaging in illegal activities.

For some reason filing for eviction is increasing rapidly nationwide. According to the Eviction Lab, more than 1 million cases were filed for eviction by a landlord in 2023. And in the last month, 75,770 evictions were filed by the landlords.

Hence, in this article, we will discuss how to check for evictions, what is included in it, where to find it, and why it matters to the landlord.

So, let’s begin with an eviction record search.

What is an Eviction Record Search?

An eviction record search is a process of examining a person’s history to determine if they have been evicted by landlords from their previous rental properties. Landlords or property managers often conduct eviction record searches to find past rental history issues. An eviction report provides detailed insights into a tenant’s rental history, including dates, reasons, and outcomes of past evictions.

An eviction record search information can vary depending on local laws, but it includes details like:

• Whether an eviction filing ever went to court
• The outcome of the eviction case
• The reason for the eviction filing

Landlords or property managers use eviction history to assess the risk of a potential tenant not paying rent or following lease agreements. However, it’s important to note that eviction records can not determine the whole story. Some states have limited the eviction records period that can be reported (often around 7 years).

Also, an eviction record doesn’t necessarily mean a tenant is a bad renter. There could be valid reasons why someone was evicted, such as job loss or unexpected financial hardship.

Why Does It Matter to a Landlord?

As we know an eviction record holds information about the tenant’s past rental history, which helps landlords to make an informed decision while screening tenants and background checks.

Mostly, landlords or property managers use an eviction record as a screening tool that helps to eliminate unqualified tenants.

What Is Included in an Eviction Record?

An eviction report contains basic information regarding eviction filings. Most eviction reports contain the following pieces of information:

1. The Tenant’s or defendant’s full name
2. The plaintiff’s or property owner’s name
3. The plaintiff’s address
4. The eviction filed date
5. The eviction filed court location or address
6. The eviction proceeding outcomes

If the pieces of information are more insightful the more helpful it will be to the landlords or property managers.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Tenant Screening

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that regulates the use of consumer reports, including tenant screening reports. The FCRA requires that consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) ensure the information they provide is accurate and up to date. Individuals have the right to dispute inaccurate information, and CRAs are required to investigate and correct any inaccuracies found.

You must comply with the FCRA when using tenant screening services. This includes obtaining written consent from the tenant before conducting a background check and providing the tenant with a copy of the report if the tenant is denied housing based on the results. You must also ensure that you are using the report for a permissible purpose, such as evaluating a tenant’s creditworthiness or rental history. Thus, adhering to the FCRA not only ensures legal compliance but also promotes fairness and transparency in the tenant screening process.

How do Landlords Check for Evictions?

As a landlord, you must be wondering “How to check eviction history?” Worry not. If you want to assess the information on the tenant’s past rental history, there are some ways to get those pieces of information. And this is the most important process of tenant screening and background checks.

Here’s the step-by-step breakdown of how landlords check for evictions:

Step 1: Check Public Court Records

Checking the public court records is the most direct and thorough way to find the eviction history of the tenant. The search terms for eviction records can vary in court records. So, you can check the terms like unlawful detainer, tenant judgment, or eviction filing.

• State/County Websites: As technology has become part of daily life most states have their own websites where you can access court records by case type (eviction) and party names (landlord and tenant).
• In-Person Search: As the court maintains all the records, you can visit the specific state or county court in person where the likely eviction occurred and request to access the eviction records. But always keep in mind that the procedure can vary from one state to another.

Step 2: Tenant Screening Report

Landlords or property managers often use a tenant screening service to filter out the potential and non-potential tenants for rental properties. Hence, they keep records of it.

Obtain a Copy: You can request a copy of the tenant screening report from the previous landlord or property management company to determine the tenant’s rental history.

Step 3: Check Credit Report

Generally, an eviction does not appear on credit reports. However, any associated debt from an eviction, like due rent, might have been reported to credit bureaus as a collection debt account. Get to know about how to conduct an effective credit screening.

Step 4: Contact Previous Landlord

You can also contact a previous landlord to verify for evictions to assess tenant’s reliability and behavior; you can normally ask the following questions:

• Rental History: Did the tenant pay rent on time, and did they leave the unit in good condition?
• Eviction History: Was the tenant ever evicted or given a notice to vacate? If so, why?
• Lease Violations: Did the tenant break any lease terms, like unauthorized pets, subleasing, or property damage?
• Behavior: Were there any issues with noise, disturbances, or complaints from neighbors?
• Eligibility for Re-Rent: Would they like to rent to this tenant again?

Step 5: Rental Applicant Evaluations

You can do a rental application evaluation by asking about their past evictions right on the rental application. It relies on the applicant being honest, but it’s a straightforward way to get that info. By combining this with other methods, you can get a better overall picture of a potential tenant’s rental history and make more informed choices.

Step 6: Legal Aid Organizations

If you are unable to get the information, you can ask for assistance of legal aid organizations. Hence, they maintain databases and offer assistance in accessing public records, including eviction records.

Pros and Cons of Eviction History Check

An eviction history check for landlords is very important as it helps them assess the potential risk related to renting out their rental property.

Here are some of the benefits listed below:

Risk Mitigation: Through eviction checks, landlords can assess the probability of a tenant failing to pay rent or violating rental agreements. Thus, this helps in minimizing the risk of income loss and property damage.

Tenant Reliability: If the eviction history comes clean of the tenant that indicates the tenant is reliable and responsible, pays rent on time, and adheres to lease terms.

Property Protection: Eviction history helps the landlord screen trustworthy tenants so that they can likely keep the property safe.

Legal Compliance: Conducting eviction checks helps landlords comply with fair housing laws and regulations, ensuring the tenant selection process is non-discriminatory and based on legitimate criteria.

Financial Stability: Eviction checks help a landlord select tenants with financial stability and capable of meeting their rent obligations. Landlords ask for credit reports to check their credit score, it also helps them reduce the risk of income disruption or unpaid rent.

Note: The landlord can ask for bank statements to check the tenant’s financial stability.

Tenant Screening Standardization: Eviction checks help tenants’ screening process be standardized as it helps evaluate prospective tenants and allow landlords to make an informed rental decision.

Here are some of the drawbacks of checking eviction history:

Legal Restrictions: Some jurisdictions have regulations related to the use of eviction records. Landlords need to ensure that their screening process complies with relevant fair housing laws.

Incomplete Information: Eviction records do not always provide a complete picture of a tenant’s rental history. There could be different reasons for the eviction like a dispute with the previous owner.

Limited Availability: There can be limited access or availability to eviction records in some areas, which makes it challenging for landlords to obtain information for screening.

Potential for Missed Opportunities: If landlords strictly screen the tenant based on eviction history, there’s a chance they miss the potential and qualified tenant.

Time and Cost: Conducting a thorough eviction look-up requires time and resources. To get access to databases and background checks needs potential fees associated with accessing eviction records.

Final Thoughts on Eviction History Check

The public court record, screen reports, and credit reports help the landlord check for evictions. Eviction records or history checks help landlords screen trustworthy and reliable tenants, mitigate potential risks, protect their property, and have stable incomes. It also helps them to make a well-informed rental decision while minimizing potential disadvantages.

I hope you have got some ideas for checking eviction records. If you are busy or still confused about the process, contact OKC Home Realty Services. OKC Home Realty helps you with reliable tenant screening and background checks, as well as checking for the tenant’s eviction history and property management.

FAQs on How to Check Evictions