An eviction from a rental property is not reported to the three consumer credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. But (there is always an exception) this information could be reported as a collection or judgment on your credit report.
Collections
If you have been evicted, did not pay your rent, or owe damages, the leasing company could turn your account over to a collection agency. The information collection agencies report to the credit bureaus is unpaid rent or damages, instead of an eviction. Collection accounts stay on your credit report for seven years from the date the debt became 180 days past due. So, indirectly, your eviction (or a record of the eviction) will cause a negative entry to your credit reports, albeit in the form of a collection. But, it doesn’t really matter because a collection is considered one FICO’s seven deadlies thus the impact to your score could be severe.
Judgments
The leasing company could sue you for breaking the lease, which would be considered a civil judgment if you lose or don’t show up to defend the lawsuit. Civil judgments are also reported on your credit report and are classified as a public record. They are deleted from your credit report s seven years from the filing date. Again, like collections, one of FICO’s seven deadlies.
Collections and civil judgments are considered severe delinquencies and can result in lower credit scores. How you pay your rent and being responsible as a renter is important to your credit history. This data is being collected by many more sources and will be used more to determine your ability to pay your obligations. For example, Experian added rental information to their credit report in 2010. CoreLogic has a database with landlord and tenant eviction court records, rental performance history, and rental applicant data. L2C has rental company histories. PRBC has eviction data.
Credit Reporting Expert, John Ulzheimer, is the President of Consumer Education at SmartCredit.com, the credit blogger for Mint.com, and a Contributor for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. He is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring and identity theft. Formerly of FICO, Equifax and Credit.com, John is the only recognized credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry. Follow him on Twitter here.