It is now well known that even dismissed eviction cases have disastrous effects on those sued for eviction. Some states have taken action to have eviction cases that did not result in judgments for the landlords sealed, HUD has declared that eviction filings not leading to eviction judgments have no legal relevance, and many pro-tenant lobbyists are trying to get legislation passed in Texas to get eviction cases sealed. And though Federal rules now say that tenant screening companies are regulated as credit reporting agencies and may not report mere eviction filings, this information can still be made known to landlords, who either deliberately or mistakenly use it to screen out potential tenants.
It is my position that courts have the discretion to handle their records as they see fit. However, in addition to concerns about open courts, I have found that getting cases sealed (which I did successfully both by agreement and by order of the court) has a number of disadvantages: e-filing is impossible, the parties cannot themselves see what occurred in the case, the parties cannot prove cases were ever filed (which is a disadvantage even to tenants, e.g., when trying to prove harassment or that a landlord relied on the same Notice to Vacate in two lawsuits), and both landlords and judges cannot be investigated. In fact, if every bad case a landlord files is sealed, a search under Odyssey will give the impression that the only eviction cases the landlord has ever filed were valid and correctly done.
As such, I have for over a year successfully had cases restyled so that the case remains visible and can be found by case number or landlord name, but not when a search is done under the tenant’s name. At this point, our local CCAL judge and most of our JPs in Tarrant County routinely restyle cases that are dismissed, even months or years after the fact. In fact, I have even gotten very old cases in which a judgment was reached restyled when enough time has passed. Opposing counsel also now routinely agree to have cases restyled well before trial or as a part of settlement, giving tenants a chance to apply elsewhere and retain clean records. I have also shared my reasoning and forms with attorneys working in other counties, and have heard back that the results have been favorable.
In the long term, I feel hopeful that courts will be willing to restyle cases immediately and routinely upon a motion by the defendant, which cases would remain restyled unless and until the case resulted in a final eviction judgment. I will still (and have) request(ed) that cases be sealed when necessary (e.g. if a client is being stalked and his/her safety is at issue), but as long as cases are not searchable by text but only under the names and case numbers, restyling is an easy way to address a problem that has long vexed renters, with no change of statute or lobbying needed.
