How a bill sealing some eviction records could help low-income DC residents
On March 1, the DC Council unanimously passed the Eviction Record Sealing Authority Amendment Act of 2021. If it becomes law, the act will seal some eviction records, eliminating a major obstacle to finding housing for many low-income people. The bill now awaits the mayor’s signature.
The bill would require that the Superior Court of the District of Columbia seal eviction records after 30 days in cases where the Court did not find for the landlord or the landlord withdrew the claim, and after 3 years in all other cases. In addition, tenants would be allowed to seek a motion to seal eviction records after fewer than 3 years in a variety of other circumstances, including when the judgment found in favor of the landlord is for $500 or less, when the tenant was evicted from a unit under federal or District subsidies, and when the tenant faces a retaliatory eviction. The legislation would also ban landlords from discriminating against prospective tenants based on whether they have a sealed eviction record.
In DC, when an eviction is filed against a tenant, it creates a permanent legal record that is publicly available. This occurs regardless of the final outcome of the case and the reasons for it. Prior to 2020, courts in DC did not have the power to seal eviction records, even in cases where the eviction complaint was found to be unwarranted.
Having a public eviction record can cause many challenges. One survey found that 85% of landlords across the country conduct background screenings on prospective tenants that reveal whether or not they have an eviction history. These background checks often do not specify what the outcome of a case was and instead group all people who have had evictions filed against them together. They are also often inaccurate, as they can pull the eviction histories of unrelated people with similar names.
It is legal for landlords to choose not to rent to tenants with an eviction history, and as a result, receiving an eviction filing can threaten a tenant’s ability to access housing in the future. Even if a landlord is willing to rent to a tenant with an eviction history, they often charge higher rent or require a larger security deposit. For many people, this isn’t feasible, and they are forced into homelessness or into staying at hotels and other short-term rentals that cost up to 2 to 4 times more than their previous rent.
These effects are felt by thousands of DC residents each year. In 2018, 17,645 unique DC households received an eviction filing, which makes up 11% of renters in DC. More than half of those households had received at least one additional eviction filing between 2014 and 2018, and 21% had received at least five eviction filings over that time period. Only 5.5% of filings in 2018 resulted in an eviction, but the filing itself still remains publicly accessible.
Eviction filings are also disproportionately targeted at DC’s Black residents. More than half of the District’s eviction filings in 2018 happened in Wards 7 and 8, where residents are disproportionately Black, as did 60.8% of executed evictions.
The passage of the bill on March 1 is the culmination of a years-long effort from several council members to pass legislation that would seal eviction records. The first version of the bill was introduced in 2018 by Council members Mary Cheh and Anita Bonds.
Cheh reintroduced the bill in 2019 with the support of seven other council members. Despite having the support of a majority of the council, the bill failed to advance past a public hearing in October 2020, where it received opposition from landlords and open government advocates.
While permanent legislation stalled, temporary legislation set in motion during the pandemic was able to pass, implementing the provisions that would eventually be included in the Eviction Record Sealing Authority Amendment Act on a temporary basis. Making this legislation law would make these changes permanent.
Eviction-sealing legislation has also been introduced in Maryland. HB 134, introduced by Del. Terri Hill this session, includes provisions that would seal all court records related to a failure to pay rent proceeding within 60 days if the landlord doesn’t win the case. Similar legislation passed 92 to 42 in the House of Delegates last year, but time ran out in the session before it could come to a committee vote in the Senate.
Under a 2020 law, Virginia tenants who have an eviction unsuccessfully filed against them are allowed to file a petition to have it expunged, but no legislation that would automatically seal eviction records is being pursued at this time.
Correction: This article has been updated to clarify the status of eviction expungement legislation in Virginia.