“There is certainly a need for it or a perceived need as people are hearing more about it,” he said.
He said ILS has held two eviction-sealing clinics in Indianapolis that quickly filled up with over 100 appointments each. Jeff Heck is the pro-bono director of Indiana Legal Services, which assists low-income residents with free legal aid. “I don’t know that the data has been collected to determine what the positive impact is,” she said, “.but what I also believe is when you provide the access to resources, to justice, to a simple legal packet that people will take advantage of it and be able to do some things to self correct their own lives.” In her court, Bacon said she reminds tenants that expungement is available to them – but the number of filings that have been sealed is difficult to quantify at this point. The law allows tenants to have the eviction filing expunged from their record six months after the initial filing. The eviction sealings are only available to tenants who have eviction filings against them but were never formally evicted.
“This will close out a case that has been sitting open for years on the courtside but on the tenant side you’ll see where that benefit is having it sealed from the public allows them to regain some housing security in the future,” she said. Judge Kimberly Bacon, who oversees the small claims court in Lawrence Township, said she’s seeing the eviction sealing process get used. Now, some experts say the new system is being put to use.ĭuring the 2022 legislative session, tenant advocates argued that expungement is a necessary step because eviction filings – even when they don’t lead to an eviction – make it much harder for tenants to find housing again. Earlier this year, the Indiana General Assembly passed a new law allowing for the sealing of some eviction filings.
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