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Florida guide
There is no button that deletes a Florida eviction. What exists is a set of separate procedures that touch separate records, and the first step is knowing which record is actually causing the problem.
A Florida eviction is a civil case filed in county court by a landlord seeking possession of a dwelling under Fla. Stat. § 83.59. It is not a criminal case, and nothing about it is expunged in the criminal-record sense. A dismissed case, a judgment, the court file, a credit file and a tenant-screening report are five different things that change for five different reasons.
What is genuinely available depends on which of those is wrong or harmful. A dismissal gives you a document that can support a dispute about an inaccurate screening report. A default judgment may be reopenable under Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.540(b). A court file may, in limited circumstances, be made confidential under Rule 2.420. None of those is automatic, and none of them is described accurately by the word “expungement.”
What this page does not claim
It does not promise that an eviction can be removed, sealed or deleted. It does not describe a service that guarantees a clean record, and it does not treat a civil eviction as a criminal record that can be expunged.
Most people assume there is one eviction record and one place to fix it. In practice there are at least four. A change to one should not be assumed to update all the others.
The court file
Clerk of the county court where the case was filed
The complaint, the returns of service, every docket entry, and any judgment. It is a public record unless a court orders otherwise under Rule 2.420.
Changed by: A court order, or a correction to an entry in the file.
A credit file
Equifax, Experian, TransUnion
Credit accounts and collections may be distinct from a possession filing. Read the actual report rather than assuming that an eviction filing, a money judgment and a rent collection appear in the same way.
Changed by: A dispute under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or the passage of time.
A tenant-screening file
Specialty screening companies landlords buy reports from
A report that may include public-record information and screening recommendations. Check the company and actual report identified in the adverse-action notice rather than assuming it is the credit file.
Changed by: A dispute with that company. A change to the court file does not push an update to them.
The landlord file
The landlord or management company from that tenancy
Its own tenancy records. These are separate from the public court file; privacy, discovery and retention obligations may still apply.
Changed by: A correction by the holder or applicable legal obligations, not automatically by a public-docket change.
The disposition matters. Under Fla. Stat. § 83.60(2), a tenant raising a defense other than payment generally must deposit the required rent into the court registry or timely move to determine the amount. The statute specifies five days after service, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, for the initial deposit or motion. Subsidized tenants have a separate payment limitation. Failure to comply can waive defenses other than payment and lead to an immediate default for possession. A procedural default is not automatically a ground for reopening the judgment.
Case dismissed
The court closed the case without awarding possession to the landlord. Common reasons are a failure to prosecute, a defective notice, a cure of the default, or a settlement.
The docket entry showing the filing and the dismissal both stay in the court file. Court records systems generally show the dismissal as the disposition.
Dismissal is not itself an instruction to delete every copy of the filing. Check the current docket and dispute a screening report that omits or misstates the disposition.
The dismissal order is the single most useful document you have. It is what makes a screening report that shows an open case or a judgment demonstrably wrong.
Judgment entered
The court awarded the landlord possession, and in many cases a money judgment for rent and costs. Florida eviction cases are filed in county court and use the summary procedure in Fla. Stat. § 51.011, so judgments are often entered quickly and often by default.
A final judgment stays in the court file. Paying the money judgment does not remove it, and a satisfaction of judgment records payment rather than erasing the judgment.
A judgment is not erased by time or by payment. There is no administrative step at the clerk that deletes it.
Ask counsel whether a recognized ground for relief from judgment exists under Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.540(b), such as a service defect that made the judgment void. Failure to deposit rent alone does not establish a ground for relief. Challenging the judgment is distinct from seeking confidentiality.
Court records
Rule 2.420 governs access to judicial records and recognizes statutory and other confidentiality grounds. A request to determine confidentiality of noncriminal trial court records follows subdivision (e), not the older subdivision (d) motion procedure. A civil eviction is not automatically confidential just because it was dismissed or creates difficulty finding housing.
Rule 2.420(c)(9)(A)(v) identifies avoiding substantial injury to innocent third parties, and (c)(9)(A)(vi) addresses avoiding substantial injury to a party from disclosure of matters protected by a common law or privacy right that is not generally inherent in that type of proceeding. A court must also find that the relief is no broader than necessary and that no less restrictive measure would protect the interest.
Two consequences follow. First, the case number stays visible even if the records are sealed, so a confidentiality order is not deletion of the case. Second, do not assume that a reporting company has updated a previously copied docket. Send the disposition or order with a specific reporting dispute; any continued reporting must comply with applicable law.
Florida’s expunction and sealing statutes, Fla. Stat. § 943.0585 and § 943.059, address criminal history records held by the state. They require a certificate of eligibility from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement before a petition is filed, and petitions proceed under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.692.
None of that touches a civil eviction case. A certificate of eligibility cannot be issued for an eviction, and a petition under those statutes filed against an eviction record is the wrong vehicle no matter how it is described by a company selling record-removal services.
If the issue is a consumer report, use the consumer-reporting track rather than assuming a court confidentiality motion will correct it. Tenant-screening agencies and credit bureaus supplying consumer reports are subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b) an agency must use reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy. Under § 1681i it must reinvestigate a dispute, generally within 30 days, and must delete or modify information that is inaccurate or incomplete or that it cannot verify. Under § 1681c, reporting periods limit how long civil judgments and other adverse items may be reported. Section 1681c(a)(2) uses seven years or the governing limitations period, whichever is longer, for civil suits and judgments. Other adverse items and subsection (b) exceptions differ. A reporting limit is not a requirement that the court delete its file.
Get the disposition in writing
Ask the clerk of the county court where the case was filed for a certified copy of the docket and of the dismissal order or final judgment. A screening dispute is decided on documents, not on your account of what happened.
Identify which file is wrong
Use the adverse-action notice and a copy of the report to identify the reporting company. A tenant-screening dispute goes to that company; a wrong collection or tradeline in a credit report should be disputed with the bureau showing it.
Dispute the specific item
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i the agency generally must reinvestigate within 30 days, with a possible 15-day extension in specified circumstances. Inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable information must be deleted or modified as the statute provides. Include the case number, county, correct disposition and supporting copy; an accurate negative item is not automatically deleted.
Ask for the corrected report
Request the written results and revised report provided after reinvestigation. If the dispute remains unresolved, § 1681i(b) and (c) address a brief consumer statement and its treatment in subsequent reports.
Separate the two problems
Correcting a screening report changes that company's file. It does not change the court record, and a court order under Rule 2.420 does not by itself update a screening company. Run both tracks if both matter.
Education, not a record-removal service
The Process Server does not offer legal representation, eviction-record sealing or guaranteed removal through this guide. Ask a Florida attorney or legal aid office about eligibility and deadlines.
Do not assume that dismissal deletes the filing. The disposition and the filing are different records. Check the clerk’s actual docket and any applicable confidentiality order. The case identifier cannot be determined confidential under the Rule 2.420(e) motion procedure described here.
Expunction in Florida is a criminal-record procedure. Fla. Stat. § 943.0585 and § 943.059, together with Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.692, govern criminal history records and require a certificate of eligibility from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. They do not apply to a civil eviction case, and no certificate of eligibility can be issued for one.
A court can make circuit or county court records in a noncriminal case confidential under Rule 2.420, and eviction cases are county court civil cases. It is a written motion, with a certification and usually a hearing, and the court must find a ground under Rule 2.420(c)(9) and that no narrower measure would protect the interest involved. It is not automatic and not routine.
No. Payment, and even a recorded satisfaction, resolves the money owed but the judgment remains part of the court file. What payment does change is how a screening company should describe the balance, and it strengthens a dispute if the report still shows an open judgment.
Possibly, on a recognized ground. Rule 1.540(b) says the motion must be filed within a reasonable time, and grounds (1), (2) and (3) have a one-year outer limit. Void judgments are separately addressed in (b)(4); do not treat this guide as advice that a challenge can safely be delayed. A motion does not itself suspend the judgment. Ask Florida counsel promptly about the ground and timing.
A report that misstates the case outcome can be disputed under federal consumer-reporting law. Whether a landlord’s separate screening decision is lawful may also depend on fair-housing rules and other law. This guide does not resolve that question or establish a right to approval.
Section 1681c(a)(2) addresses civil suits and judgments using seven years from entry or the governing statute of limitations, whichever is longer. Other adverse items and subsection (b) exceptions differ. This is a consumer-reporting limit, not a deadline for deleting a court file. Dispute inaccuracies under § 1681i rather than assuming a universal seven-year rule.
The certified disposition, the case number and county, the page of the report showing the item, identification, and a short statement of exactly what is wrong: dismissed versus judgment, wrong party, wrong amount, or a date that falls outside the reporting period.
No. This page describes Florida procedure generally. Whether a specific record can be sealed, reopened, or disputed depends on the case, the county, and the facts, and should be confirmed with a Florida attorney or a legal aid office before you act.