How Being Evicted Affects Your Credit Score
Experiencing eviction won’t directly affect your credit score, but things like missing payments and getting sent to collections can. If you’re facing eviction, there are free resources available to help you navigate the process and plan your next steps.
- Getting evicted won’t directly impact your credit score, and an eviction itself won’t appear on your credit report.
- However, late rent payments, payments sent to collections and any legal judgments against you will appear on your credit report and can harm your score.
- This type of information can stay on your credit report for up to seven years, but its impact will lessen over time.
How does eviction affect your credit score?
Getting evicted won’t directly impact your credit score, but some secondary effects might. These include:
Late payments
Payment history accounts for 35% of your FICO Score. If you’re late paying rent and those payments are reported to the three credit bureaus, you’ll likely see a big impact on your score.
Not all landlords report payments to credit bureaus, though. If your landlord doesn’t report your payments, you likely won’t see a drop from this. If you signed up for a rent reporting service to boost your credit score, you may be able to cancel it to prevent or minimize the drop.
Collections
If you were evicted because you stopped paying rent, your landlord could sell the debt to a collections agency, which would try to collect repayment from you. Information about debt in collections appears on your credit report and will have an effect on your score. Collections actions can harm your score even if your landlord didn’t report the late payments directly.
Judgments
If your landlord or a debt collector takes you to court for nonpayment and the court files a judgment against you, that information may also be on your credit report and can cause your score to drop.
If you’re facing eviction, there are free resources available to help you navigate the process, including:
- Legal Services Corporation (LSC): The LSC maintains an eviction law database. Use it to understand eviction laws and procedures in your state.
- LawHelp.org: LawHelp.org provides a map of local legal aid programs in each state. Look for an attorney to help represent you.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): The CFPB has created a list of eviction resources. Read them to guide you through each step of the process.
- Local resources: Many states and cities have resources available and there may be nonprofits in your area that are able to help you interpret housing laws, find rent assistance and find alternative housing. Searching online for “eviction resources near me” is a good place to start, though you’ll want to check the expertise and reputation of any sites before sharing personal information or agreeing to any services.
How long does eviction information stay on your credit report?
Most information related to evictions, such as collections, judgments and late payments, can stay on your credit report for up to seven years. However, the level of impact that this information has on your score will lessen as time goes on.
If you file for bankruptcy in the process of getting evicted, that information could stay on your credit report for up to ten years, depending on which type of bankruptcy is used. Chapter 13 bankruptcy stays on your credit report for seven years, while Chapter 7 impacts your score for 10 years.
How to remove eviction information from your credit report
If the eviction information was added to your credit report by mistake, you can use our guide on disputing errors on your credit report to have it removed. That said, this method will only work if the information related to your eviction is false.
In the event that the eviction records are true, we recommend taking the following steps:
- Negotiate with your landlord: Talk to your landlord about ways to repay what you owe. You may be able to make a lump sum payment or negotiate a payment plan.
- Settle with the debt collectors: Ask your debt collectors to enter into a pay-for-deletion agreement, which will remove the information from your credit once you settle your debts.
Keep in mind that both scenarios require the other party to be willing to take steps to resolve the negative information with the credit bureaus. While there’s no guarantee that this will happen, it never hurts to ask, especially if you’re also willing to pay back what you owe.
Can an eviction make it more difficult to rent in the future?
Unfortunately, yes. Many landlords run a credit check on potential renters, which can show late payments, collection actions and judgments. Even if your credit score isn’t affected, eviction data can show up in other places. For example, some landlords use software to check their potential tenants’ rental history reports. Those reports will specify if you’ve been evicted.
If this is a concern for you, it’s a good idea to ask potential landlords what information they collect during their tenant screening process and what company they use. You can always request a copy of your report from the company to see what information they include in their reporting.
How to rent with eviction information on your record
While having information related to an eviction on your credit report won’t necessarily stop you from being able to rent entirely, it can suggest to a landlord that renting to you is more of a risk. With that in mind, the best thing to do is to take steps to improve your credit score over time.
In the meantime, here are some steps you can take to strengthen your rental application if you need to rent right away:
- Check your credit score for free so you know where you stand.
- Dispute any errors on your credit report.
- Consider applying with a cosigner.
- Think about getting a roommate.
- Offer to pay more money upfront.
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- How does eviction affect your credit score?
- How long does eviction information stay on your credit report?
- How to remove eviction information from your credit report
- Can an eviction make it more difficult to rent in the future?
- How to rent with eviction information on your record
- Learn more about your credit score