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My boyfriend and I are trying to find a rental property in the western suburbs of Chicago, IL. Up until recently, we were living with family but the commute to his job became too much to bear so we are currently renting a studio at an extended-stay hotel type establishment in Downers Grove.
I recently discovered while apartment hunting that I have a public record for eviction from 4.5 years ago when I was originally separating from my ex-husband. There was no money owed at the time, I only left the property early due to the breakdown of our marriage. I'm really not sure why I was evicted other than it must have been some sort of law to get me off the lease. Regardless, it has kept us from being approved at a couple of apartment complexes we've applied to. In the meantime, we've stopped applying because it seems we are just throwing the fees away at this point.
Do I have any options anymore for renting now that this eviction has tarnished my history? If not, can my boyfriend apply for an apartment and I could live there off the lease? I'm not sure what our options are now, if I have any.
From the circumstances you have described, you may be able to get that "eviction" expunged (taken off your record). Contact your county court commissioners office. Obviously that might take a while, though. I dont know what to suggest except to be up front with apt managers about the situation BEFORE you pay the apt application fees. Thats what I did, and I happened upon one where the apt manager made the decision about renters themselves and did not rely on an outside agency to do the background check. Its the only way we got a place. Otherwise we would be homeless right now.
I recently discovered.....that I have a public record for eviction....
How did you not know this was on your record?? Surely they must have contacted you, been court dates, judges, the whole shebang.
I've never had to be on either side of an eviction, but a huge red flag to me as a landlord is the line.. "I recently discovered that I have an eviction in my record", like its a surprise. How can this possibly be news to you?? Did you hope that after a few years it would go away and disappear if you ignored it?
Either way, you must be upfront about this to your potential landlord before you pay for an application. Most decent landlords/management companies have strict "no eviction" policies. Meaning, an eviction, or a felony are instant denials of application. Also, save the sad story, landlords have heard the same ones time, and time again.
Just deal with the facts of your record, be upfront, and ask whether they would consider renting to you.
You'll probably have better luck with a private landlord. And you'll probably won't get too many chances to rent that high-up luxury penthouse apartment and will need to go to a less desirable area until you build up a satisfactory record again.
You'll probably have better luck with a private landlord.
Much better luck. With the way many larger property management companies are set up these days, applications are all computer-driven and sifted through automatically and you don't get a chance to explain anything, are simply and automatically thrown into File 13.
As far as the previous eviction is concerned, it's entirely possible that your name was on that lease with your now ex-husband and, when you moved out, your name remained on the lease, he defaulted and thus you both were named in court proceedings for eviction. If all the documents were sent to the last known address which was his then you wouldn't have known about it. It happens, unfortunately. I agree with poster jzeig104 that you might try and have the record expunged even though it may take some time.
Just FYI, most states do not use the term "expunged" when dealing with civil actions, especially evictions. The one glaring exception to this is Minnesota. Usually, civil actions are "sealed" which basically has the same effect as an expungement. Another option is to have the eviction "vacated". Either are possible.
Having the case sealed would arguably be preferable as it would then not be available for public view, and thus anyone doing a background check would not be able to find it. Vacating the record would mean it was still viewable, but it would be like the ruling never happened. You would still want to disclose it but a simple explanation and documentation of the judgement being vacated should be enough to satisfy any potential landlords, private or corporate.
In her case, I bet it was called an unlawful detainer (UL). Thats what mine was called and I was never evicted so I didnt know anything about it when I went to rent again 2 years later. Or, as STT resident has suggested, possible the ex husband defaulted after she left, and her name was attached due to marriage not being dissolved yet, or by mistake even if it was.
Greater chance to get it off her background check.
In my experience, I did NOT have an easier time with private landlords. It was the opposite.
In my area, an unlawful detainer IS an eviction. One and the same thing. Well, technically, the unlawful detainer gives us the right to have the sheriff forceably remove the tenant, but basically the same thing. It involves going to court, and notice has to be served legally on the tenant. Since the OP was probably still on the lease, serving the house was legal notice.
OP, they wouldn't evict you just to take your name off a lease that all parties were willing to agree to. Evictions cost money. Changing some paperwork and getting a few signatures is free. Something more than that happened.
We've actually had something similar happen before with a tenant we were evicting. She and her baby's-daddy (literally) were on the lease as occupants. We served her at the house, went through the process, and evicted. Come to find out, he wasn't living there and never had been. He signed as a co-signer without telling us that was what was happening. According to the lease, he was an occupying, full status tenant. We have a different form for co-signers and would have served him separately had we known. So, he ended up with an eviction and a judgment on his record that he didn't even know about until we had his wages garnished. So it can happen.
As for answers, I would go back to that landlord and see if they will write you a letter stating the circumstances, that you were not living at the property at the time, and were named in the suit only because you were still on the lease.
For some landlords it will still make no difference, but it might give you a better shot.
FYI, you were still legally responsible for rent if you were still on the lease, even if you were no longer living there, so be very very polite to your ex-landlord if you do go this route. Whether willing or not, and whether intended or not, you were an accomplice in their losing money. You are asking for a favor from a bridge you burned. So if they say no, take it like an adult, thank them for their time and be done. Also, keep in mind they may want you to pay off the balance owed, if there was one after the deposit was used. If they do, you'll have to decide how to handle that. You legally owe that money if you were still on the lease.
How did you not know this was on your record?? Surely they must have contacted you, been court dates, judges, the whole shebang.
I've never had to be on either side of an eviction, but a huge red flag to me as a landlord is the line.. "I recently discovered that I have an eviction in my record", like its a surprise. How can this possibly be news to you?? Did you hope that after a few years it would go away and disappear if you ignored it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by STT Resident
As far as the previous eviction is concerned, it's entirely possible that your name was on that lease with your now ex-husband and, when you moved out, your name remained on the lease, he defaulted and thus you both were named in court proceedings for eviction. If all the documents were sent to the last known address which was his then you wouldn't have known about it. It happens, unfortunately.
STTR is right, Carlitos, it is very possible for someone to get evicted and not know it. A couple years ago, we stopped getting rent for a unit we had (rented by a young unmarried couple - we inherited them as tenants when we bought the place). Our manager called their phones, sent them emails, knocked on the door, never got any response. We went through the whole eviction process and had them both evicted (default judgment, since neither bothered to show up at court). A few weeks after we got the judgment, the girlfriend finally responded to our manager basically saying "Oh my gosh, I moved out of there months ago when we broke up and had to give up my phone and computer access because I didn't have enough money to pay for them, my boyfriend said he'd take my name off the lease, do I have an eviction on my record? How do I get it off?" to which our manager responded (more politely than I'm writing here) "Tough luck, nothing I can do about it now, it's over." Our manager had sent all the notices to the apartment they'd been renting from us, since we'd never been given any other info from them. Too bad for her, she was only in her late teens, she'll have such a hard time in her 20s unless she's able to get it off her record.
Let this be a lesson to anyone who moves out of a place while someone else remains in the unit - make sure you get taken off the rental agreement, or else make sure the rent is paid on time.
Very true. When we file an eviction we file in all names on the lease and we do not check if anybody moved out earlier since that is not or job but the tenants job.
Legally we have to file in all names or it can be considered an error and our eviction papers can be thrown out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Galaxie Girl
STTR is right, Carlitos, it is very possible for someone to get evicted and not know it. A couple years ago, we stopped getting rent for a unit we had (rented by a young unmarried couple - we inherited them as tenants when we bought the place). Our manager called their phones, sent them emails, knocked on the door, never got any response. We went through the whole eviction process and had them both evicted (default judgment, since neither bothered to show up at court). A few weeks after we got the judgment, the girlfriend finally responded to our manager basically saying "Oh my gosh, I moved out of there months ago when we broke up and had to give up my phone and computer access because I didn't have enough money to pay for them, my boyfriend said he'd take my name off the lease, do I have an eviction on my record? How do I get it off?" to which our manager responded (more politely than I'm writing here) "Tough luck, nothing I can do about it now, it's over." Our manager had sent all the notices to the apartment they'd been renting from us, since we'd never been given any other info from them. Too bad for her, she was only in her late teens, she'll have such a hard time in her 20s unless she's able to get it off her record.
Let this be a lesson to anyone who moves out of a place while someone else remains in the unit - make sure you get taken off the rental agreement, or else make sure the rent is paid on time.
to which our manager responded (more politely than I'm writing here) "Tough luck, nothing I can do about it now, it's over." Our manager had sent all the notices to the apartment they'd been renting from us, since we'd never been given any other info from them. Too bad for her, she was only in her late teens, she'll have such a hard time in her 20s unless she's able to get it off her record
Your manager was incorrect, just FYI. They could have filed a motion dismissing her as the plaintiff, setting aside the judgment against her, or stipulated to such after she had filed the motion. Very simple to do.
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