New data released by Oregon’s state court system in January 2025 found that over 47,000 eviction records have been sealed as a result of a state law allowing tenants to shield their evictions from public view - making them inaccessible to third party background and credit screening companies as well as new landlords. Oregon’s eviction record sealing law was made effective through “House Bill 2001,” passed in 2023 as part of a larger housing bill package focused on housing financing, affordable housing, and tenant protections. Signed into law by Governor Tina Kotek, “House Bill 2001” allows tenants to have their eviction records “set aside,” or sealed, under certain circumstances; adding an additional layer of protection for tenants looking to shield their eviction records. Similar protections already existed through “Senate Bill 873,” passed in 2019 to allow tenants to expunge – or erase – their eviction records altogether. Through a review process initiated by the state’s courts in December 2024, judicial staff reviewed about 160,000 eviction cases to determine eligibility for sealing with a resulting 47,000 eviction cases sealed and more than 50,000 still under judicial review.
Under the state’s eviction record sealing law, residential rental evictions where the court issued a judgement against a tenant after January 1, 2014 are eligible to have an eviction set aside by the courts. In addition to the retroactive time requirement legislated by the law, several conditions must be satisfied by an eviction record to qualify for sealing. According to the Oregon Judicial Branch, if the judgement – or result of the eviction case – stipulated that a tenant had to move out of their home, they must wait five years for the court to clear the eviction record. If the eviction record resulted in a money judgement, the tenant must also satisfy this judgement before becoming eligible for sealing. The tenant must also notify the court that they have satisfied the judgment. In cases where a tenant avoided an eviction trial by signing an agreement with their landlord, the tenant must wait 12 months to have their eviction record sealed; unless the tenant appeals to the court that all terms of their agreement were fulfilled.
In all other residential eviction cases, such as if the tenant won their eviction case or the case was closed or dismissed, the tenant is eligible to have their eviction record sealed without having to satisfy a waiting period. Moreover, a tenant can apply to have their eviction record sealed under an expedited review process, though the tenant must apply through a “Motion to Set Aside Residential Eviction Judgement” process and must meet the eligibility criteria noted above.
Through the state’s eviction record sealing process, courts will clear eviction records just once per year – a process that started in December 2024 and will subsequently take place in December annually. The state courts will not notify tenants if their eviction record was sealed through this process, however a tenant is able to search their name within the “Oregon Judicial Department Online Records Search” to determine whether their eviction case resulted in a sealing. If the case cannot be found through the online search, it was likely sealed by the courts, though if a tenant would like to confirm that an eviction record has been sealed, an “Order Request” form can be submitted to the courts to receive a copy of the order stating that the eviction record has been sealed. For cases that do appear on the Judicial Department’s online search database, the presence of the eviction record could stipulate that the case was not included as being eligible under the law or the Judicial Department is still working to seal the record.
Eviction record sealing, and even expungement, protections are critical tools used to shield tenants from the negative consequences of an eviction record on a tenant’s public record. Even in cases where a tenant is not displaced from their home at the conclusion of an eviction case, the mere presence of an eviction on a tenant’s record can impact a tenant’s ability to apply for future housing opportunities. Given that an eviction record appears on a tenant’s record when applying for housing, a bad mark on a background check or credit report – as packaged on a tenant screening report - can often result in automatic denial, in turn prohibiting a tenant from accessing safe, stable, and affordable housing long into the future. Eviction record sealing protections can be implemented automatically without a tenant having to apply or appeal to the courts, such as in Oregon, or can occur through a petition process like in the State of Maryland.
While eviction record sealing protections distinguish the visibility of a tenant’s eviction record, eviction record expungement protections, comparatively, are a more permanent protection afforded to tenants. Eviction record expungement involves complete eviction record erasure, making it seem like it was never there. Eviction record expungement laws exist in states like Minnesota and Utah.
As of 2025, NLIHC has tracked 19 states through its State and Local Tenant Protections Database and three localities that have passed some form of eviction record sealing and/or expungement protections for tenants. Most recently, Idaho, Massachusetts, and Virginia passed protections for tenants in 2024, while states like Hawai’i and Nebraska are considering new protections for tenants this legislative session.
For tenants seeking eligibility information and criteria to determine whether they qualify to have eviction records sealed, the Oregon Law Help center, created by the Oregon State Bar to provide free legal information, created a tool for tenants with an eviction filing present on their record to determine eligibility and find answers to frequently asked questions here.