Bipartisan bill that would seal evictions records after 5 years moves forward
COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — A bill that would help tenants move forward after facing eviction is making its way through the State House.
House Bill 4270 aims to remove/seal evictions records from the public index after five years. On Thursday, its second reading received a vote of 77 to 23 — with heavy bipartisan support.
“We feel really good about it, it was a group effort for sure,” says the bill’s lead sponsor, Representative Carla Schuessler.
Over the past year, she says she and others have met with small and large landlords, apartment owners, realtors, and tenant associations.
“What we are hearing from South Carolinians is that there is a housing crisis, and there are so many barriers preventing people from bettering their housing,” says Schuessler.
Currently in SC, a file for eviction or actual eviction stays on your record permanently, oftentimes affecting housing and employment.
“People are often automatically denied an opportunity even after expending costs on an application fee, so this will change people’s access to not just housing but quality housing,” says Kenni Cummings, Executive Director of the South Carolina Tenant Union.
Naysayers argue sealing records could be unfair to small, independent landlords.
“They don’t always have access to the same tools these large commercial landlords,” says Rep. Ryan McCabe, adding, “What we’re doing with this bill is actually hiding this information.”
However, proponents say a number of apartment owners and small landlords provided testimony in front of a full committee to the contrary.
“Looking back at a five year historical people would actually provide them with full information. I think a lot can change financially in a person’s life in five years. And somebody’s financial decisions from six or seven or eight years ago, should not come into play when now ‘I have the ability to financially pay for the apartment,'” says Rep. David Martin.
Advocates like Sue Berkowitz, Founder of the SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center, also find that tenants often face eviction from retaliatory landlords after running into livability issues — leading them to endure unfair deposits and rental costs in the future.
“We talk about personal responsibility but we don’t ever ask for responsibility from the landlords who may do something for the wrong reason,” says Berkowitz.
Matthew Butler with the ACLU of SC says a quarter of South Carolinians currently spend over half of their income on housing.
“And so this would help folks who may have had issues in the past move forward, so it’s not a millstone around their neck to affordable and good housing,” says Butler.
A companion bill is currently making its way through the SC Senate. The House is expected to have a third and final reading on Tuesday, April 28th.
“This is a win. You know if we can get this across the finish line, it’s gonna help a lot of South Carolinians, who have the means and ability to better their housing. It’s gonna do that. It’s gonna remove that barrier and still protect landlords and not take away their ability to assess whether or not someone can pay their rent,” says Schuessler.
