How long does an eviction stay on your record? Specifically in California.
by 
jacyschroeder
ANSWERS: 5
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An eviction is a civil matter and is, therefore not on a criminal record.
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This depends on what you mean by record? If you were given a notice of eviction and left willingly within the timeframe, then there is no official record of your eviction. On the other hand, if you made your landlord take you to landlord-tenant court, there is now a permanent record of your eviction. However, there is no easy way to access records of most landlord-tenant courts. That is, anyone can go to the clerk and get a copy of your proceeding with the outcome, but the person would have to know what court to go to. There are some database services that will have the records, but most landlords would never pay for such a service. Thus, for all practical purposes, nobody will ever be able to look up to see that you were evicted. This is why background investigators find out if you have been evicted by calling up all of your old landlords and asking. If you let me know (generally) who would be trying to find out if you were evicted, and I can give you a more specific answer on how that person may go about getting this info.
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If by record, you mean credit report, then it is supposed to be seven years. However, the eviction can go on your credit report while the landlord attempts to collect, then it will be on your credit report for seven years after collections cease. So really it can be there much longer than seven years. I know this from personal experience. During my separation/divorce, I failed to take my name off of the lease to our home after I moved out. My ex husband was later evicted and because I had a solid work history (and my ex rarely held a job), they came after me. It was on my credit report for approximately 10 years.
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An eviction will stay in your court records as a matter of public record forever or until exspunged. Now, in regards to your credit report, monetary judgments will show on your credit report for 7-10 years and the abstract of such is renewable by your former landlord. Evictions will stay in your rental history record for 7-years (legally) although, tenant-screening companies and data compilation companies will try to report this information forever. It is a process; however, if you go with a company like removeevictions.com they can get most evictions off of your record for you.
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The record of an eviction is actually kept in a national association of landlords (don't remember the official name of the organization). So it is private (not governmental) and is not like a criminal record. I don't know how long they keep it on record but they are under no obligation to remove it, ever.
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