The Stigma of a Scarlet E

Eviction cases — called Scarlet E’s — are a stubborn blot on a renter’s history. Piecemeal privacy legislation in some states may not be enough to protect millions of struggling tenants.

The apartment was just what Chanque Jones needed: four bedrooms, and $500 cheaper than the run-down house she had been renting back in Chicago. It was a fresh start for her three sons, as well as for her mobile manicure business. Then an old eviction case turned up on a routine background check prepared for her landlord. It didn’t matter that she had gone to court and won. The fact that the case was filed at all was enough to mark her as a risk: what tenant advocates call a Scarlet E — the E standing for eviction. “I didn’t even know about the eviction record,” Ms. Jones said.