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In Wisconsin, do evictions stay on your record for 20 years?

By Hope Karnopp
YES

Under Wisconsin Supreme Court rules, records of small claims cases — which include evictions — are kept for 20 years. 

Dismissed small claims cases, however, are removed from the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access website after two years. 

Legal Action of Wisconsin, a nonprofit law firm representing low-income renters, asked the Supreme Court in March to shorten the time frame for retaining most evictions to one year. It also requested courts apply the 20-year retention standard only to evictions that required a renter to pay money back to a landlord. The law firm notes there are "prolonged and pervasive racial disparities in the rental housing market in Wisconsin."

The director of state courts rejected a similar petition because it would be too burdensome to implement, the Cap Times reported.

The Wisconsin Apartment Association supports reducing the period to "a few years," according to FOX6 News.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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