Filings Month Ending 2021 January 31

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2021-01-01 Search Period End: 2021-01-31 Earliest Case: 2021-01-04 Latest Case: 2021-01-29 Total Cases: 2421 Total Transfers: 84 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 30.5% Of those, percentage pro se: 48.0% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Harwich Port Least stable with 10+ filings: Marlborough Least stable with 100+ filings: Worcester Least stable county: Worcester Cases per day: 80 Housing crisis baseline max cases per day (UCL): 130 Housing crisis baseline min cases per day (LCL): 44 The number of filings this period is not statistically different from the pre-pandemic housing crisis baseline. -- Courts (n) Count Percent northeast 512 21.1% western 465 19.2% central 439 18.1% southeast 315 13.0% eastern 274 11.3% metro_south 179 7.4% quincy district 31 1.3% lynn district 21 0.9% chelsea district 14 0.6% lowell district 13 0.5% somerville district 13 0.5% brockton district 12 0.5% malden district 11 0.5% orleans district 8 0.3% fall river district 6 0.2% lawrence district 6 0.2% waltham district 6 0.2% wareham district 6 0.2% cambridge district 5 0.2% dedham district 5 0.2% fallmouth district 5 0.2% bmc east boston 4 0.2% pittsfield district 4 0.2% westfield district 4 0.2% woburn district 4 0.2% wrentham district 4 0.2% ayer district 3 0.1% barnstable district 3 0.1% framingham district 3 0.1% milford district 3 0.1% northern berkshire district 3 0.1% orange district 3 0.1% palmer district 3 0.1% peabody district 3 0.1% plymouth district 3 0.1% bmc brighton 2 0.1% edgartown district 2 0.1% haverhill district 2 0.1% marlborough district 2 0.1% southern berkshire district 2 0.1% springfield district 2 0.1% stoughton district 2 0.1% bmc charlestown 1 0.0% bmc dorchester 1 0.0% bmc west roxbury 1 0.0% brookline district 1 0.0% clinton district 1 0.0% eastern hampshire district 1 0.0% greenfield district 1 0.0% hingham district 1 0.0% nantucket district 1 0.0% new bedford district 1 0.0% newton district 1 0.0% northampton district 1 0.0% taunton district 1 0.0% worcester district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 1682 8 Natural Person 739 2413 Total 2421 2421 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 69.5% 0.3% Natural Person 30.5% 99.7% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 1614 68 1682 Optional 384 355 739 Total 1998 423 2421 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 66.7% 2.8% 69.5% Optional 15.9% 14.7% 30.5% Total 82.5% 17.5% 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 8 8 Optional 31 2382 2413 Total 31 2390 2421 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.3% 0.3% Optional 1.3% 98.4% 99.7% Total 1.3% 98.7% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 162 6.7% 1 1765 72.9% 2 407 16.8% 3 55 2.3% 4 19 0.8% 5 8 0.3% 6 4 0.2% 8 1 0.0% Total 2421 100.0% Note: Households may appear with zero adults due to clerical delay entering known defendants, identity protection obscuring known defendants (e.g., 42 USC Sections 13701 through 1404 Violence Against Women Act), or no adult defendants (e.g., abandonment of minors). Initiating Action Count Percent Non-payment 1721 71.1% Cause 253 10.5% No Fault 221 9.1% Unknown/Other 213 8.8% Foreclosure 13 0.5% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Harwich Port 172 3 East Falmouth 155 9 Whitinsville 129 9 Marlborough 101 39 New Bedford 90 86 West Warren 88 1 Buzzards Bay 87 3 Fall River 82 73 Framingham 80 55 Fitchburg 79 32 Lunenburg 79 8 Worcester 78 143 West Stockbridge 76 1 Lakeville 75 8 Ashland 72 12 Orleans 67 4 Hardwick 66 2 Dennis Port 63 2 South Lancaster 61 1 Southbridge 59 10 Webster 59 10 Brookfield 58 2 Hyannis 56 8 Carver 52 6 Vineyard Haven 52 1 Oxford 51 7 Taunton 51 29 Milford 50 14 Gardner 49 10 South Deerfield 48 1 West Dennis 45 1 Dudley 43 5 Westborough 43 8 Spencer 42 5 Eastham 40 2 Middleborough 38 9 Norwell 38 4 Orange 38 3 Cherry Valley 36 4 Clinton 36 5 Wareham 36 8 Wellfleet 36 1 West Tisbury 36 1 Adams 35 3 Athol 34 4 Berlin 34 1 Chelsea 34 12 Leominster 34 14 Duxbury 33 5 Provincetown 33 1 Fiskdale 32 1 Newton Upper Falls 32 2 Hudson 31 6 Brewster 30 3 Nantucket 29 3 Winchendon 29 3 East Sandwich 28 1 Sagamore Beach 27 1 South Dennis 27 1 West Brookfield 27 1 Brockton 26 25 Lynn 26 24 Millis 25 2 Newton Center 25 1 Mattapan 24 9 Medfield 24 3 Quincy 24 23 Douglas 23 2 Revere 23 12 Avon 22 1 East Wareham 22 5 Forestdale 22 1 Millbury 22 3 Shrewsbury 22 8 Jamaica Plain 21 8 Bourne 20 4 Lenox 19 1 Northbridge 19 3 Barre 18 1 Fairhaven 18 3 South Barre 18 1 Hyde Park 17 6 North Attleborough 17 5 Pepperell 17 2 Winthrop 17 3 Braintree 16 6 Hopedale 16 1 Lee 16 1 North Dartmouth 16 4 Dorchester 15 14 Kingston 15 2 Marshfield 15 4 Natick 15 5 North Easton 15 2 Dalton 14 1 Dighton 14 1 Hanover 14 2 North Adams 14 2 Raynham 14 2 Rockport 14 1 Seekonk 14 2 Ayer 13 1 Hingham 13 3 Shirley 13 1 West Boylston 13 1 East Boston 12 5 Falmouth 12 4 Lancaster 12 1 Medford 12 7 Everett 11 5 Greenfield 11 2 Lowell 11 12 Malden 11 7 Rockland 11 2 Roxbury 11 7 Somerset 11 2 Somerville 11 9 Auburndale 10 1 Dorchester Center 10 10 Plymouth 10 6 Southborough 10 1 Ware 10 1 Attleborough 9 4 Hanson 9 1 Holbrook 9 1 Hull 9 1 Leicester 9 1 South Easton 9 1 Wrentham 9 1 Harwich 8 1 Pittsfield 8 4 Beverly 7 3 Cambridge 7 8 Centerville 7 1 E. Boston 7 3 East Bridgewater 7 1 Holliston 7 1 Mashpee 7 1 Milton 7 2 Northborough 7 1 Stoughton 7 2 Wayland 7 1 West Newton 7 1 Weymouth 7 4 Woburn 7 3 Amesbury 6 1 Auburn 6 1 Bellingham 6 1 Brighton 6 3 Easthampton 6 1 Hopkinton 6 1 Swansea 6 1 Watertown 6 2 Westport 6 1 Whitman 6 1 Lawrence 5 4 Sudbury 5 1 Arlington 4 2 Belmont 4 1 Canton 4 1 Mansfield 4 1 Methuen 4 2 Onset 4 1 Salem 4 2 Waltham 4 3 Andover 3 1 Chicopee 3 2 Franklin 3 1 Haverhill 3 2 Needham 3 1 Needham Heights 3 1 Peabody 3 2 Roslindale 3 1 Saugus 3 1 Tewksbury 3 1 West Roxbury 3 1 Barnstable 2 1 Dartmouth 2 1 Newton 2 2 South Boston 2 1 South Dartmouth 2 1 Westfield 2 1 Boston 1 10 Newton Highlands 1 1 Roxbury Crossing 1 1 Springfield 1 2 (not given) 0 1306 span 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 Worcester 292 325 Barnstable 274 53 Bristol 266 219 Plymouth 217 94 Nantucket 85 3 Middlesex 82 193 Berkshire 80 13 Norfolk 58 50 Franklin 56 6 Suffolk 53 106 Dukes 48 2 Essex 39 43 Hampshire 10 2 Hampden 7 5 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. Cases are searched by 'case type' = 'summary process', party type = 'plaintiff' within date ranges, typically weekly. MassCourts.org displays matches, not cases. X plaintiffs on a single case result in X separate matches. Cases are manually de-duplicated. Where the number of matches exceeds the number displayed (e.g., 'Displaying 100 of 257 total matches.'), date ranges are reduced until all cases may be viewed. If the date range cannot be reduced (i.e., is one day) but matches still exceed the display limit of 100, then two additional passes are taken. First, municipalities are filtered in stages. Second, to capture cases with no municipality entered, the search switches from 'case type' to 'case number', guessing the missing numbers assuming serialized entry. This method results in 'matches' reconciled to case counts. 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/.