Filings Week Ending 2020 Oct 31

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases recently filed, for which outcomes remain largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2020-10-25 Search Period End: 2020-10-31 Earliest Case: 2020-10-26 Latest Case: 2020-10-30 Total Cases: 95 Total Transfers: 3 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 65.3% Of those, percentage pro se: 58.1% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Baldwinville Least stable with 10+ filings: n/a Least stable with 100+ filings: n/a Least stable county: Barnstable The number of filings this period is statistically significantly below the pre-pandemic housing crisis baseline. -- Courts (n) Count Percent southeast 20 21.1% northeast 19 20.0% central 17 17.9% metro_south 11 11.6% eastern 9 9.5% western 5 5.3% malden district 3 3.2% pittsfield district 3 3.2% natick district 2 2.1% bmc east boston 2 2.1% barnstable district 1 1.1% lynn district 1 1.1% eastern hampshire district 1 1.1% plymouth district 1 1.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 33 0 Natural Person 62 95 Total 95 95 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 34.7% 0.0% Natural Person 65.3% 100.0% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 32 1 33 Optional 26 36 62 Total 58 37 95 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 33.7% 1.1% 34.7% Optional 27.4% 37.9% 65.3% Total 61.1% 38.9% 100.0% Defendant Representation Important: Defendants will not have an attorney known to the plaintiff at time of filing unless this is an ongoing matter. 100% pro se is to be expected in all filing reports except to the extent time passes between filing and staff review. See outcomes report for final assessment. (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0 0 0 Optional 9 86 95 Total 9 86 95 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Optional 9.5% 90.5% 100.0% Total 9.5% 90.5% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 7 7.4% 1 52 54.7% 2 27 28.4% 3 8 8.4% 5 1 1.1% Total 95 100.0% Note: Households may appear with zero adults either in cases of identity protection (e.g., 42 USC Sections 13701 through 1404 Violence Against Women Act) or where no adult (18 or over) remains in the home. Initiating Action Count Percent Non-payment 34 35.8% Cause 30 31.6% Other 14 14.7% No Fault 13 13.7% Foreclosure 4 4.2% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Baldwinville 52 1 Sherborn 48 2 Provincetown 33 1 Eastham 20 1 Yarmouth Port 19 1 Dover 17 1 East Falmouth 17 1 Whitinsville 14 1 Upton 13 1 Orange 12 1 Cherry Valley 9 1 Hull 9 1 Athol 8 1 Dudley 8 1 Everett 7 3 Hyannis 7 1 Northborough 7 1 Salem 7 3 Belchertown 6 1 East Longmeadow 6 1 Fairhaven 6 1 New Bedford 6 6 Brockton 5 5 Foxborough 5 1 Marblehead 5 1 Southbridge 5 1 Webster 5 1 Barnstable 4 2 Dorchester 4 4 E. Boston 4 2 Middleborough 4 1 Pittsfield 4 2 Stoneham 4 1 Winchester 4 1 Agawam 3 1 Bridgewater 3 1 Franklin 3 1 Haverhill 3 2 Lexington 3 1 Malden 3 2 Norwood 3 1 Plymouth 3 2 Randolph 3 1 Roslindale 3 1 Tewksbury 3 1 Worcester 3 7 Beverly 2 1 Billerica 2 1 Fall River 2 2 Lawrence 2 2 Leominster 2 1 Lowell 2 3 Lynn 1 1 Taunton 1 1 (not given) 0 5 Boston 0 1 Cambridge 0 1 Springfield 0 1 Rate per 100,000 residents based on 2010 census. Municipalities do not appear if no evictions filed. Where neighborhoods are commonly recognized as municipalities, data appears under the neighborhood rather than the legal entity (e.g., "Roxbury" is separate from "Boston".) Where municipalities have alternate spellings (e.g., Marlboro for Marlborough), totals appear under the long form. Efforts are made to correct clerical errors in the court database, but clerical errors may appear. Rate per 100,000 County Renter Households Count Barnstable 36 7 Plymouth 23 10 Worcester 15 17 Berkshire 12 2 Bristol 12 10 Essex 9 10 Franklin 9 1 Middlesex 6 16 Hampshire 5 1 Norfolk 5 5 Hampden 4 3 Suffolk 4 8 Dukes 0 0 Nantucket 0 0 Rate per 100,000 renter households based on 2019 ACS. Counties appear even if no evictions filed. -- Data Sources (report errors to hello@masslandlords.net): County Data Households Percent Renters Barnstable 96,509 20.0% Berkshire 53,792 30.0% Bristol 220,528 37.3% Dukes 18,146 22.6% Essex 297,898 36.9% Franklin 30,927 34.1% Hampden 179,970 39.5% Hampshire 60,002 30.7% Middlesex 612,366 38.1% Nantucket 11,399 30.8% Norfolk 269,717 31.6% Plymouth 191,041 22.6% Suffolk 309,945 63.7% Worcester 316,162 35.2% County Households: 2019 ACS TableID S1101 County Households and Renters, Dukes and Nantucket: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/dukescountymassachusetts County Households and Renters, Large Counties: https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=S11&g=0400000US25.050000&d=ACS%201-Year%20Estimates%20Subject%20Tables&tid=ACSST1Y2019.S1101&hidePreview=true Dukes County Renters: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/dukescountymassachusetts Nantucket County Renters: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/nantucketcountymassachusetts -- Methodology Publicly available records at MassCourts.org are read fully manually at two intervals: 1.) For a filings report, once within approximately one week of filing; 2.) For an outcomes report, once again approximately 12 to 18 months after filing. This effort costs more than 1 FTE. Summary spreadsheets are produced by copying exactly what is read. The spreadsheets are processed using proprietary software. Repeated analyses of local spreadsheets does not burden the MassCourts servers. The software is developed using best practices for revision control and regression testing. Limitations: Data are snapshots. As such, we cannot track individual cases over time or produce real-time reports. MassLandlords does not have access to court databases beyond what is published in human readable form at MassCourts.org. As of this report, MassLandlords staff were not considering information available to attorneys (e.g., the contents of notices, discovery, evidence, etc.) but not available to the general public. All data presented here are readily verifiable at MassCourts.org without special permission. Information is not independently verified outside of the court record. For instance, clerical errors in address, omissions of a defendant, etc. are not readily verifiable. As this process matures, reporting algorithms may change. Transfers are counted as new cases. Clerical differences between original case and transfer (e.g., middle initial included then dropped; defendant dropped on transfer; street address spelling changed) as well as the potential for indefinite circular transferring (e.g., foreclosure cases moving between housing, land, and/or superior courts) make it very difficult to programmatically identify continuing matters. -- When Citing This Work, Please Credit: MassLandlords, Inc. Available online at https://masslandlords.net/policy/eviction-data/.