If you manage your own multi-family rental in Waterbury, Watertown, Oxford, Naugatuck, or anywhere else in the Greater Waterbury area, your tenant screening process may have a gap you don’t know about. Connecticut’s eviction record sealing law — part of Senate Bill 998, signed into law in July 2023 — created a new reality for Connecticut eviction record sealing tenant screening: a basic court search no longer tells the full story. Here’s what changed, what it means for your application process, and how to build a compliant screening system that still surfaces genuine risk.
What Connecticut’s Eviction Record Sealing Law Actually Does
The eviction record sealing provisions of SB 998 (Public Act 23-207) took effect on July 1, 2024.
Under the law, an individual’s eviction record is removed from the court system’s public view within 30 days for cases where an eviction is withdrawn by the landlord, where the tenant wins the case, or where the case is dismissed by the judge.
That’s a meaningful category. Many eviction filings in Connecticut end in exactly those ways — a payment plan is reached, the case is dropped, or a judge rules for the tenant. Under the old system, those filings stayed on a public record and could show up in a background check for years. Under the current law, they disappear from public view.
The law also makes it illegal for sealed eviction records to be sold to any third-party company, including credit screening companies.
That means even the screening databases many landlords relied on are prohibited from trafficking in this data.
To be clear about what the law does not seal: eviction cases where the landlord obtained a judgment — meaning the court ruled in the landlord’s favor and the tenant was actually removed — are not automatically sealed.
Public access to eviction records has been restricted specifically for cases that were dismissed, withdrawn, or where the tenant prevailed, and those are the records that are sealed and removed from public internet-based court records.
A confirmed eviction judgment against a tenant remains visible.
What the Law Prohibits Beyond Record Sealing
SB 998 made several other changes that affect how landlords handle applicants. Two matter most at the screening stage:
- No application processing fees.
Connecticut landlords are no longer allowed to charge rental application fees, nor can they charge move-in or move-out fees. (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-4d, 2024.)
If you’re still collecting a flat “application fee,” stop — it’s not permitted. - Screening report fees are capped.
Connecticut landlords can obtain tenant screening reports for prospective tenants but cannot charge more than $50 (adjustable for inflation) for the report. Any landlord that charges a fee for a tenant screening report must provide the tenant with a copy of the report and a copy of the receipt from the entity that conducted the screening. (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-4d, 2024.) - You cannot reject solely on the basis of an eviction filing.
Landlords are now prohibited from refusing to rent to a prospective tenant solely based on a past or pending summary process (eviction) action.
That means an eviction filing — by itself, and especially one that was sealed — cannot be your stated reason for denial.
What Screening Methods Are Still Legally Available
The law removes one data point from your toolkit. It doesn’t leave you blind. A compliant, risk-aware screening process should still include all of the following:
- Credit report: Payment history, outstanding debt load, bankruptcies, and collections are all visible and remain highly predictive of how a tenant will pay rent.
- Income verification:
Focus on creditworthiness, verifiable income, and consistent employment history.
Paystubs, tax returns, or direct employer verification should be part of every application. - Landlord references: Calling prior landlords — not just asking for names — is one of the most underused tools in self-managed landlord screening. Ask specific questions: Did they pay on time? Did they give proper notice? Would you rent to them again?
- Criminal background check:
Landlords should have a consistent and equal policy in place regarding criminal background checks to avoid discrimination.
Apply the same criteria to every applicant. - Written screening criteria:
Connecticut law holds landlords strictly liable for non-compliance — document every step and use written criteria for every applicant.
If you ever need to defend a denial, your file needs to show a consistent, documented standard.
The key shift here is that eviction history, by itself, was never the whole picture — and now it’s a smaller piece of it. A tenant who had a case dismissed five years ago may be a perfectly reliable payer today. A tenant with no eviction history but a credit profile full of collections may be a much bigger risk. Good screening has always required looking at the full picture.
Where Self-Managing Landlords Get Tripped Up
Most compliance problems at the application stage come down to three things:
- Using outdated screening tools. Some older screening databases still surface sealed records, which can create both legal exposure and fair housing risk if you act on that data. Use a screening provider that is explicitly compliant with Connecticut’s post-July 2024 requirements.
- Inconsistent criteria. If you approve one applicant with a sealed eviction record and deny another with an identical profile, you have a fair housing problem. Written, consistently applied standards protect you.
- Charging fees that are no longer allowed. The flat application fee prohibition catches many landlords off guard, particularly those who haven’t updated their process since 2023.
It’s also worth knowing that Connecticut’s broader landlord-tenant framework has added other obligations in recent years. For example,
landlords must return the security deposit, plus interest, no more than 21 days after the end of a tenancy, or 15 days after receiving the tenant’s written forwarding address, whichever is later.
If a landlord violates these rules, they are liable for two times the amount of the security deposit.
For a deeper look at how security deposit rules apply in this area, see our post on Connecticut security deposit law changes and what Waterbury area landlords need to know.
How a Professional Property Manager Handles Screening Compliantly
At Premio Property Management, we manage multi-family residential properties across the Greater Waterbury area — Waterbury, Watertown, Oxford, and Naugatuck — and tenant screening is one of the highest-stakes parts of the leasing process we handle on behalf of owners.
A compliant screening process isn’t just about avoiding fines. It’s about building a tenant pool where risk is assessed on real, current, verifiable data — not on stale court filings that Connecticut law now correctly recognizes as poor predictors of tenancy quality. That means structured income verification, direct landlord reference calls, consistent credit criteria, and written documentation at every step.
It also means staying current.
Connecticut has enacted significant reforms affecting the eviction process, tenant screening, and certain protected classes, and these updates require ongoing attention and procedural adjustments for all rental property operations.
What was a compliant process in 2022 may expose you to liability today.
If you own multi-family rental property in the Greater Waterbury area and you’re reviewing your own applications, we’re available to walk through what a professionally managed screening process looks like — and whether it makes sense for your portfolio.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Connecticut’s eviction record sealing law apply to all eviction cases?
Eviction records that are sealed are those where the case was dismissed, withdrawn, or decided in the tenant’s favor — these are removed from public internet-based court records, and this also applies to databases maintained by background check providers who receive data from the state.
Cases where a landlord obtained a judgment of possession are not automatically sealed and remain publicly accessible.
Can I still charge a fee to screen a prospective tenant?
Landlords may charge up to $50 for a tenant screening report, and the tenant must be given a copy of the report and a receipt showing what the landlord paid for it. No other application fees should be charged.
A flat “processing fee” collected before screening is no longer permitted under Connecticut law (Public Act 23-207, effective October 2023).
If I can’t rely on eviction history, how do I protect myself from a bad tenant?
The law removes one data point — dismissed or withdrawn eviction filings — that was arguably a weak predictor of risk to begin with. Verifiable income, credit history, direct landlord references, and consistent written screening criteria remain fully available and collectively provide a much stronger picture of an applicant’s reliability than a court search alone ever did. The key is applying those criteria uniformly to every applicant and documenting your process.
Ready to stop guessing whether your screening process is compliant? Premio Property Management works with multi-family property owners across Waterbury, Watertown, Oxford, and Naugatuck to build leasing processes that are legally sound and actually find good tenants. Learn more about how Connecticut landlord-tenant law is evolving, or contact Premio Property Management directly to talk through your current process.
