If you’ve experienced an eviction, the removal process and judgement won’t appear on your credit reports. However, there are some potential consequences of an eviction that may still appear on your credit reports and impact your scores.
One way the eviction process can affect your credit reports and scores is if your landlord enlists a collections agency to recoup unpaid rent, either before or after you have been evicted. If this happens, the agency is likely going to report the collection account to one or more of the credit bureaus. The collection account then will likely appear on one or more of your credit reports and can cause your credit scores to drop substantially. Here's more information on what to do if you have an account in collections and what it could mean for your credit scores.
An eviction occurs after there is an unlawful detainer judgment against you. One common basis for an unlawful detainer is for breaking the terms of your lease, including for failure to pay rent. A landlord can also file a separate civil action and get a judgment against you for unpaid rent. These judgments won’t appear on consumer credit reports such as the VantageScore 3.0 you see on Intuit Credit Karma, as they were removed from consumer credit reports in 2017 and are no longer reported. However, even though an eviction or civil judgment won’t appear on your consumer credit reports, future landlords or property managers may still be able to check whether you’ve experienced an eviction using other credit reporting resources, such as a tenant-screening service.
If you’ve been evicted and you’ve experienced an account going into collections or a civil judgment, it’s still smart to monitor your credit and make moves to improve your credit health.
