How Much Does an Eviction Affect Your Credit?

An eviction is a legal process where a landlord formally removes a tenant from a rental property, often due to a breach of the lease agreement like non-payment of rent. This action involves court proceedings to legally regain possession of the property. While the immediate consequence is the loss of housing, an eviction can also have significant implications for an individual’s financial standing and future opportunities.

How Evictions Appear on Your Credit Report

An eviction itself, meaning the court-ordered removal, does not typically appear directly on a standard credit report. The major credit bureaus—Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion—do not generally list eviction filings or judgments as a separate tradeline. However, the financial circumstances often associated with an eviction can impact your credit history.

If unpaid rent or other fees owed to a landlord are sent to a collection agency, this debt will appear on your credit report as a collection account. Landlords frequently sell or assign delinquent tenant accounts to third-party collection agencies to recover outstanding balances. Additionally, if a landlord pursues a lawsuit for unpaid rent and obtains a civil judgment against the tenant, this judgment can become a public record that credit reporting agencies may include on your credit report. These financial markers, rather than the eviction itself, are the direct entries that can negatively affect your credit profile.

The Impact on Your Credit Score

Negative marks such as collection accounts and civil judgments are derogatory items on a credit report, leading to a significant drop in credit scores. Payment history is the most influential factor in credit scoring models like FICO, accounting for approximately 35% of the score. A collection account, even a single one, can cause a credit score to decrease by 50 to 100 points or more, depending on the individual’s existing credit standing.

The severity of the score drop is influenced by several factors, including the amount of debt sent to collections and the individual’s overall credit history. For someone with an otherwise strong credit profile, the sudden appearance of a collection or judgment can result in a significant initial decline. Conversely, an individual with an already poor credit history might see a less severe, but still detrimental, change. Credit scoring models universally view unpaid debts and judgments stemming from an eviction negatively.

Duration of an Eviction Record on Your Credit Report

Information related to an eviction, specifically collection accounts for unpaid rent or fees and civil judgments, can remain on your credit report for a long period. These negative items typically stay on your report for up to seven years. The seven-year countdown generally begins from the date of the first missed payment that led to the collection action, or the date the judgment was filed.

Even if the debt is eventually paid or settled, the collection account or judgment will usually remain on the credit report for the full seven-year duration from its original delinquency date. While the impact of these negative entries on a credit score may lessen over time, their presence can still be a factor in financial assessments. After this seven-year period, these records are generally removed from your credit report.

Broader Financial Implications

Beyond the direct impact on credit scores, an eviction can lead to broader financial challenges. Securing future housing becomes more difficult, as most landlords conduct background and credit checks. These checks often include reviewing tenant screening reports, which can reveal past evictions, court judgments, or unpaid rent debts, even if the eviction itself isn’t on a standard credit report. Many property management companies have policies that automatically deny applicants with a prior eviction on their record, viewing it as an indicator of financial risk or a history of lease violations.

Obtaining new loans or lines of credit, such as mortgages, auto loans, or credit cards, also becomes more challenging. Lenders scrutinize credit reports for negative marks, signaling a higher risk of default. This can lead to loan denials, or if approved, less favorable terms, including higher interest rates and larger down payment requirements. An eviction record may also affect employment opportunities, particularly for positions requiring financial responsibility or a credit check, although evictions are civil matters and typically do not appear on criminal background checks.