Once an eviction is filed with the court, the court record may be erased or expunged or taken off your record. It all depends on the county you are in and what that county court allows. In all counties, you should be able to file a request to have your eviction record sealed. It’s up to the judge to determine whether he or she will grant your request. IF A CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY FINDS YOUR EVICTION RECORD BEFORE IT IS SEALED, YOUR EVICTION WILL STILL SHOW UP ON THE CREDIT REPORTING AGENCY’S RECORDS.
UPDATE: FRANKLIN COUNTY HAS NOW LIMITED THEIR ONLINE CASE RECORDS SEARCH FUNCTION TO RETURN RESULTS FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS ONLY. This means that if you have an eviction older than three years old, a potential landlord will not be able to locate it through the online public records search. They may be able to find it using other methods however. YOU MAY ALSO APPLY TO THE FRANKLIN COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT TO SEAL YOUR EVICTION RECORD. Again, it is up to the judge whether or not your eviction record will be expunged or sealed. Generally, landlords and property owners do not contest your request to have your eviction record sealed because it will cost them more money in attorney’s fees to fight the request to seal your eviction record.
See this Columbus Dispatch article on eviction sealing in Franklin County, Ohio.
UPDATE: THE CLEVELAND MUNICIPAL COURT OFFERS A WAY TO SEAL OR EXPUNGE YOUR EVICTION RECORD.
If you live in another jurisdiction, you may be able to petition the Court to seal or expunge your eviction by following the steps laid out for Cleveland expungements. Your court may not grant the motion to expunge/seal but you might be able to make out a pretty strong case for expungement/sealing of the eviction record.
Most Ohio municipal courts are now online and have a public access search function (aka case records or case search). The public access search function allows the general public to search court records online. This can be done by simply searching for a tenant or landlord or party by that party’s name.
Unlike certain criminal records, eviction filings usually cannot be taken off your record – see exceptions listed above. Your eviction case may have been dismissed (and the court record will show that) but the fact that it was filed will remain on your court record. A tenant can request that their former landlord vacate the eviction judgment but that does nothing to take the eviction off your record. Most landlords will not be willing to vacate a judgment especially if the tenant still owes money.
Credit reporting agencies will discover the eviction filing and note it on your credit record as well. It may remain on your credit report for up to eight years. In light of all this, the best method to take an eviction off your record is to avoid one in the first place.