The eviction record — append-only, and why attached messages are frozen
Every eviction case keeps a record: each step as it moves, notes, costs, and the messages you attach from the conversation. Nothing is edited or deleted, and an attached message is stored as it read at the moment you attached it — because the live one can still be changed by whoever sent it.
A year after the fact, the question is never “what is the law” — it is “what did we actually do, and when”. The record is the part of this feature you will be glad of.
Append-only
Nothing on the record is edited or deleted. A correction is a new entry that says so, underneath the thing it corrects. Every step change, every note, every cost, every attached message and the closing of the case are entries with a time and an author.
Notes, and who sees them
A note is visible to the resident by default. You can mark one internal, and it then appears only to your side. The default is deliberate: a record built mostly out of notes the other party never saw is the one a court reads least kindly.
Attached messages are a snapshot
You can attach messages from the conversation with the resident to the record. What is stored is what each message SAID at the moment you attached it — not a pointer to the live message.
That matters because a message on Seayora can be edited or unsent by whoever sent it. A record that quietly changed under the person relying on it would be worse than no record at all, so the copy on the case is frozen and the entry says which half is frozen. Attaching the same message twice adds nothing; the count Seayora reports back is what was actually added, not what you asked for.
You can only attach messages you can already see. The server re-checks membership of the conversation on every message id it is handed — a case number is not a key to somebody’s inbox.
Costs
Filing fees, service, attorney time, the marshal or sheriff, storage, turnover. Recording a cost puts it on your own ledger for this case and does nothing else — it does not charge the resident and it does not touch their balance.
You can mark a cost as one you intend to seek back. That records an intention. Whether it can actually be recovered is a question of your lease AND your state, and in several states the answer is no whatever the lease says.
The court details
The case number, the date you filed, the hearing date and place, and the judgment date. Every one of them is you writing down something a person did — Seayora files nothing and learns nothing from any court system.
Entering a hearing date tells the resident, with the date, the place, and plainly that turning up matters. A case decided without the other side present is the one most likely to be reopened, which costs the owner the months they thought they had just saved.
Closing it
A case is closed as settled, withdrawn, dismissed by the court, or possession recovered — with a sentence saying what happened, which the resident is told. Steps still open are marked no longer applicable; nothing that already happened is changed, and nothing is deleted. The resident keeps their copy.
There is a fifth outcome you cannot select: cured. A case whose balance has been paid closes itself, from whatever stage it had reached, because in most states paying is a statutory right and ending the case is not the landlord’s decision to make.
Frequently asked questions
Can I edit or delete something on the eviction record?
No. The record is append-only. A correction is a new entry underneath the one it corrects, with its own time and author. That is what makes the record worth having a year later.
If a tenant deletes a message, does it disappear from the eviction record?
No. A message attached to the record is stored as it read at the moment it was attached, not as a link to the live one. The live message can still be edited or unsent by whoever sent it; the copy on the case cannot, and the entry says so.
Does recording a cost charge it to the tenant?
No. Recording a cost puts it on your own ledger for that case and nothing else — no balance moves and the resident is not billed. Whether a cost can be recovered at all depends on your lease and your state, and in several states the answer is no whatever the lease says.
Does Seayora get my case number from the court automatically?
No. Seayora has no connection to any court system. The case number, the filing date, the hearing and the judgment are all recorded by you, which is also why every label says “record” rather than “file”.
What happens to the record when the case closes?
It is kept in full. Nothing is deleted, steps still open are marked no longer applicable, and the resident keeps their copy of everything they were shown.
Related guides
- Eviction navigation — what Seayora does, and the four things it will never do
- How the steps and deadlines work — and why some steps deliberately have no date
- An eviction case has been opened on my tenancy — what Seayora shows me
Related features and guides
- Eviction navigation — what Seayora does, and the four things it will never do — Documentation. Seayora navigates an eviction: the steps your state and city require, in order, each with the statute behind it, the deadline it sets and a link to the real court. It does not file, serve, evict, or give legal advice — here is exactly where that line sits and why it is drawn there.
- How the steps and deadlines work — and why some steps deliberately have no date — Documentation. Every step on a Seayora eviction case carries the statute behind it, whether it blocks the steps after it, and where its deadline comes from — statutory, set by the court, set by your lease, or an estimate. A step Seayora has not verified gets no due date at all, on purpose.
- An eviction case has been opened on my tenancy — what Seayora shows me — Documentation. If your landlord opens an eviction case on Seayora you are told, and you can see it: the stage it has reached, what is outstanding, any hearing date, and — first on the page — what would end it, including free legal help where it is available.
- Voice Notes in Messaging — Feature. Record and send voice notes in any Seayora conversation. Transcoded server-side so they play on iPhone, Android, and desktop alike, stored with the thread, and searchable as part of the property record.
- Message Threads, Drafts & History — Feature. Threaded conversations with unread counts, drafts, read state, archiving, and a permanent history tied to the listing, lease, or job it concerns.
- Call Recording & Consent — Feature. Where enabled, calls can be recorded or transcribed for quality and dispute resolution — with recordings attached to the conversation and consent obligations made explicit.