Overview
A SmartScreen eviction report surfaces an applicant’s prior eviction history — tenant judgments for possession and money, unlawful detainers, rent judgments, failure-to-pay records, and writs and warrants — from a nationwide database, matched to your specific applicant using TransUnion’s credit, personal, and address-history data to reduce false positives.
TL;DR: Prior evictions are one of the strongest predictors of future evictions, and many filings are invisible on a standard credit report. Checking eviction history before you sign is one of the highest-value steps in screening.
Cost context: an eviction can cost roughly $3,500 on average and up to $10,000+ depending on lost rent, legal fees, property damage, and turnover.
Why Eviction History Needs Its Own Search
Here’s the key point most landlords miss: a credit report generally reflects money judgments and debts — not the eviction case itself. An applicant who was taken to eviction court but moved out before judgment, settled, or had the case dismissed can look completely clean on credit.
Some states even seal eviction records unless the landlord wins possession within a set window. The only way to surface that pattern is a dedicated eviction-records search, separate from the credit pull.
For how this fits into the full screen, see the complete tenant screening guide.
What’s in a SmartScreen Eviction Report
Eviction reports draw on public court records enhanced with data reported to TransUnion, giving a more complete view of an applicant’s rental-court history.
Record types included
- Tenant judgments for possession and money
- Unlawful detainers
- Judgments for rent
- Failure-to-pay-rent records
- Writs and warrants of eviction
Why that matters
- Shows rental-court history a credit report may miss
- Helps identify patterns of housing instability
- Supports more confident screening decisions
- Works alongside credit, criminal, and income checks
- Gives a clearer risk picture before lease signing
Broad Coverage, Accurate Matching
SmartScreen taps TransUnion’s expansive eviction database — covering 49 states and Washington, D.C., with more than 16 million records from thousands of courts and counties nationwide.
Just as important as coverage is accuracy: SmartScreen’s match-back logic uses credit, personal, and address histories to align results to your specific applicant, helping eliminate false positives even when you provide limited information.
Predictive value: TransUnion research indicates that prior evictions are among the strongest predictors of future eviction risk. Evicted tenants have roughly three times as many prior eviction and rental-related collection records as non-evicted tenants.
Pair It with ResidentScore
An eviction report tells you what happened; ResidentScore helps estimate forward rental risk. Used together, they give you both history and a rental-calibrated risk signal, so you’re not relying on a general-purpose credit score that was not designed to predict rent payment.
Pair both with credit, criminal, and income checks for a more complete assessment.
Simple, Pay-As-You-Go Screening
- Free signup — no memberships or minimums.
- Pay only for what you use — order reports when you need them.
- Pass the cost to the renter — no out-of-pocket expense for the landlord.
- Fast, accurate results — eviction and background data delivered quickly to support data-driven decisions.
The economics: prevention through screening is far cheaper than eviction. A single eviction report costs a small fraction of what one eviction can cost.
Check eviction history before you sign.
Nationwide eviction records, TransUnion match-back accuracy, and ResidentScore — with credit, criminal, and income checks available in the same pay-as-you-go report.
Start Screening with SmartScreen
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a tenant eviction report show?
A SmartScreen eviction report draws on public court records enhanced with data reported to TransUnion, showing tenant judgments for possession and money, unlawful detainers, judgments for rent, failure-to-pay records, and writs and warrants of eviction.
Why isn’t eviction history on a standard credit report?
A credit report generally reflects money judgments and debts, not the eviction case itself. A dedicated eviction-records search captures filings a credit check may miss.
How predictive is prior eviction history?
Prior evictions are among the strongest predictors of future eviction risk. Research indicates evicted tenants have roughly three times as many prior eviction and rental-related collection records as non-evicted tenants.
How much does an eviction cost a landlord?
Per TransUnion SmartMove, an eviction costs approximately $3,500 on average, with a typical range of $500 to $10,000 or more once lost rent, legal fees, property damage, and turnover are included.
About This Page
Prepared by the SmartScreen Advisory Team. SmartScreen is operated by ClearScreening, an FCRA-certified consumer reporting agency with 22 years of tenant screening experience. Eviction data is provided through TransUnion.
Reviewed by: SmartScreen Fair Housing & Compliance Team, ClearScreening — FCRA-Certified Consumer Reporting Agency.
Related Resources
Check rental-court history before you approve.
Screen eviction history alongside ResidentScore, credit, criminal, and income checks in one workflow.