How do I file a petition to seal my eviction record?

The court has a Petition to Seal Eviction Record form that you must use. 

For more information, see How do I seal an eviction record? 

There may be organizations near you that can help you file online. See Can I get help to seal my record?

You must file a Petition to Seal Eviction Record in the court where the eviction case was filed. For example, if the case was filed in the Eastern Housing Court, you must file the petition with that court.

If your case was transferred from a District Court or the Boston Municipal Court to a Housing Court, you must file a petition in both courts – the Housing Court and the District Court or Boston Municipal Court. It is best to first file a petition in the Housing Court. If the petition is allowed, then attach that order to the petition for the court where your case was originally filed.

You can file your petition online, by mail, or in person at court. For more information and to get the form, see How do I seal an eviction record? 

If there is more than one tenant (or defendant) in the case, each person seeking to seal an eviction must file a separate Petition to Seal Eviction. Judges may decide how to proceed with such petitions.

To help you complete a petition online, computers are available at Trial Court Service Centers and Trial Court Law Libraries across the state. They may also be able to help you look up your case on the Trial Court’s website.

• Court Service Centers
• Law Libraries

Your public library, housing authority, and other community organizations may also have computers you can use.

Organizations are also starting to hold clinics to help people seal their record. Check here for updates.

It depends on the outcome or type of eviction case that the landlord filed.

• For eviction cases that were dismissed or where the judge found in your favor, you do not have to notify the landlord that you are filing a petition. 
• For eviction cases that were not dismissed or found in your favor, you must notify the landlord’s lawyer, or the landlord directly if they do not have a lawyer.
• If you had a civil action filed against you under Chapter 139, Section 19, you must notify the landlord’s lawyer (or the landlord directly if they do not have a lawyer) regardless of the outcome of the case.

If you are required to send notice to the landlord from your eviction case, you should notify the landlord by sending a copy of the petition to their lawyer, or if they do not have a lawyer, directly to the landlord. See Do I have to notify the landlord from my eviction case that I want to seal my eviction record?

Contact information for your landlord or your landlord’s lawyer should be listed on court documents from your case. If you don’t have these documents, you can find contact information by looking up your case.

Make 2 copies of your completed petition: 1 for the landlord or the landlord’s lawyer, and 1 to keep for your own records. If you filed online, you can download a copy or have a copy emailed to you.

If you are sending it to your landlord, you can mail or hand deliver. You can also email if you get your landlord’s permission first. If you are sending it to the landlord’s lawyer you can email it to them. 

Sometimes court records have errors that can impact you if you are trying to seal your eviction record. For example: If your eviction was “no-cause,” but is listed as “cause,” that may delay your ability to seal. To correct the type of case, you may need to file a motion with the court which a judge must review.  

Or if the landlord did not submit the necessary paperwork which showed that you paid off what you agreed to pay, this means you will need to file a paper asking the court to recognize that you paid the amount due in full. See Was my case a non-payment eviction and I paid it?

There may also be clerical errors online in your correct record. To correct clerical errors you can file a Request to Correct a Clerical Error.

No, there is no cost to seal your eviction record.

It depends. In some cases, a judge may hold a hearing in court to ask questions and learn more about your eviction case and your petition to seal. Whether the judge conducts a hearing depends on the outcome or type of eviction case and what the court wants to do.

A hearing is required in 2 situations:

• In a non-payment eviction where you could not pay the amount due and the landlord objects to your sealing request.
• In a Chapter 139, Section 19 civil action where the landlord got a judgment in their favor.

In all other cases, the judge decides whether or not to hold a hearing.

It depends on the type of eviction.

First, check to see that you have met the requirements to be eligible for sealing.  

• See What type of eviction was it? 
• Review the important dates of your case, such as when it was settled by agreement, or when judgment was entered.
• See When is the appeal period over? to confirm whether your appeal period has passed. 
• If you have papers from your case, review them and bring them with you to the hearing. 
• Check masscourts.org to see if the papers are available to download.

Second, if your landlord objects, read the court document so you can learn why they objected so you can address this at the hearing.

In a non-payment case (where you did not pay off the amount due), the court may require you to complete a financial statement outlining your financial situation. Before the hearing, begin compiling bank statements, pay stubs, proof of past rent payments, tax returns, or other documents showing your financial history.

For a Chapter 139, Section 19 civil action, you may need to get a copy of your criminal record from the courthouse or from your lawyer who can get it from masscourts.org. It may also be helpful to consider what was going on in your life at the time of the alleged criminal activity, like domestic violence, substance abuse, or mental illness, and how you can show that you have not and will not repeat this activity again.

Because this law is new, we want to learn about what tenants are experiencing. 

If you have filed a petition with the court to have your eviction court record sealed, please consider filling out the Eviction Record Sealing Story Collection Form.

The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute will not share any information you give without your permission.