Since laws regarding evictions are a matter of the state, the way you report evictions and discover them during background checks varies. Legislature regarding what information can be accessed in California differs from other states.
What Information is Available?
Landlords and property management companies will generally refuse to rent to anyone who has been involved in an eviction case—even if the case was dismissed or was ruled in favor of the tenant. Since this is unfair to those tenants who technically have no blemish on their record, California created a law to prevent this from happening.
California passed a law in 1992 disallowing certain eviction case information from being included in credit reports. However that law was quickly deemed to be unconstitutional since eviction cases are considered a matter of public record.
Consequently, California a then passed another law keeping eviction cases from becoming public record for 60 days (as opposed to the traditional 30 days). The law also strikes tenant names from eviction cases if the tenant wins the case with the allotted 60 days. However, the law permits anyone having “good cause” access to these records. (Applicants should either way include this information on a job, credit or rental application or risk being sued for fraud, among other consequences.)
Who Reports Evictions?
The Landlord doesn’t have to report the eviction for it to show up on record. Tenant reporting agencies search public records for the information and then update their databases.
What is Included on Eviction Reports?
Since evictions are not included on credit reports, a separate check will be required for evictions. An eviction report includes monetary and non-monetary judgments, possession-only judgments, property damage claims, and skips
