People with eviction filings are trying to get help sealing their records. Fourteen people attended a walk-in clinic at the Monroe County Justice Building Friday.
Shyanne Duncan was the first one out the court’s doors after filling out forms and filing them with the court, with help from attorneys present. At the end, Monroe County Circuit Court Judge sealed her records.
A 2022 Indiana Law states people who have eviction filings against them but were never formally evicted can have their records expunged. Duncan said she was skeptical at first.
Read more: New kiosks set up across Indiana to connect people facing eviction with legal services
“I didn't think about (the law) until I found out that you could actually come to the court and have them help you," she said. "I thought it was going be too much paperwork and too hard to do, but it really wasn't.”
Friday was the first clinic in Monroe County, held by The Eviction Prevention Project with attorneys from Indiana Legal Services, though multiple clinics have been held across the state with other groups.
Duncan said even though she’d settled with her landlord, having a filing on record made it difficult to get housing.
"I am going to be looking for something better for my son, to find a different place than where we are now," Duncan said. "Because we live with friends."
Indiana has counted more than 74,000 evictions filing from January through September of this year, according to the Eviction Lab. In 2020, when the CDC had an eviction moratorium, Indiana had nearly 41,000 eviction filings.
