The court record of an eviction case is public unless the court case is sealed. Many landlords use tenant screening bureaus to obtain background checks on potential tenants. These tenant screening reports can show if you have had an eviction case filed against you. Banks and landlords can check your record if you apply for a loan or to rent an apartment.

If your landlord obtained a judgment against you, and you paid the judgment amount, you can file a release and satisfaction of judgment so your court record is up to date.

You can ask a judge to seal your eviction case. This means that the record of your case will no longer be publicly available. Normally, judges want records to remain public. So it is not easy to get a record sealed.

Some eviction cases must be sealed by the judge. We call this "mandatory" sealing. In other situations, the judge can decide if a case should be sealed or not. This is "discretionary" sealing.

Mandatory sealing

If you were evicted because your landlord went through foreclosure, the judge must seal your eviction case if you file a motion to seal it. Your eviction case must also be sealed if your lease was terminated by the person who purchased your unit in a foreclosure case.

If this applies to you, and your case is not sealed, you can file a motion asking the judge to seal the record so that no one can see the court record of your eviction case.

Discretionary sealing

Usually, the sealing of eviction filings is discretionary, meaning that it will be up to the judge whether to order sealing or not.

Sometimes landlords and their lawyers will agree to seal an eviction court file as part of a larger agreement. This can be in the form of a repayment plan for past-due rent or an agreement to leave the apartment by a certain date. However, the decision to seal the file is still up to the judge, even if the parties agree on sealing the case.

The judge can decide to seal the file if:

• The case has no basis in fact or law, such as a lack of jurisdiction,
• It is in the interests of justice, and
• Those interests are not outweighed by the public's interest in the record.

For example, if you were evicted for not paying rent, but you actually did pay rent. Or if you were not properly served in the case.

When you appear in court to present your motion to seal your eviction case file, remember that you have to convince the judge of these three things. 

Even if you did not know about the eviction case until now, you can still ask the judge to seal the file. You will need to go to the court that entered the eviction order and file a motion to ask the judge to seal the file. 

Cases filed between March 9, 2020, and March 21, 2022

There is a relaxed standard for sealing eviction case files that were filed during the Covid Emergency Period. This includes eviction cases sealed from March 9, 2020 to March 31, 2022.

For cases filed during that period, the judge can seal the case if: 

• It is in the interest of justice,
• The case shouldn't have been filed at all because you did not violate your lease,
• The case was dismissed, or
• You agreed with your old landlord.

What if the sealed case still appears on my background check?

Sometimes a sealed eviction case may still appear on your background check. Sometimes these background checks are called tenant screening reports or consumer reports. If that happens, you should send a dispute letter to the background check company. Your letter should ask them to remove the sealed case information from your file. You should also speak with a consumer advocate attorney about this error on your background check. You can find more information on disputing inaccurate information in your background check from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

If your landlord does their own investigation using court records and discovers information about a sealed file, you should notify the clerk's office in writing that information about the sealed file is still available and file another motion to seal.

Additional help

If you live in Cook County, you can get help filing a motion to seal your eviction. Otherwise, you can begin the process of filing a motion to seal your eviction. Your previous landlords can provide references for your hearing.