Filings Month Ending 2021 March 31

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2021-03-01 Search Period End: 2021-03-31 Earliest Case: 2021-03-01 Latest Case: 2021-03-31 Total Cases: 1989 Total Transfers: 60 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 29.7% Of those, percentage pro se: 47.7% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Hardwick Least stable with 10+ filings: Fall River Least stable with 100+ filings: Worcester Least stable county: Barnstable Cases per day: 66 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 eastern 398 20.0% northeast 351 17.6% central 292 14.7% western 267 13.4% southeast 244 12.3% metro_south 168 8.4% quincy district 40 2.0% somerville district 17 0.9% cambridge district 15 0.8% waltham district 15 0.8% lynn district 14 0.7% fall river district 11 0.6% barnstable district 10 0.5% bmc west roxbury 9 0.5% peabody district 9 0.5% pittsfield district 9 0.5% fallmouth district 8 0.4% northern berkshire district 8 0.4% orleans district 8 0.4% lowell district 7 0.4% malden district 7 0.4% chelsea district 6 0.3% bmc east boston 5 0.3% woburn district 5 0.3% haverhill district 4 0.2% lawrence district 4 0.2% stoughton district 4 0.2% wareham district 4 0.2% attleboro district 3 0.2% brockton district 3 0.2% holyoke district 3 0.2% newton district 3 0.2% salem district 3 0.2% southern berkshire district 3 0.2% uxbridge district 3 0.2% bmc roxbury 2 0.1% clinton district 2 0.1% dedham district 2 0.1% edgartown district 2 0.1% framingham district 2 0.1% nantucket district 2 0.1% new bedford district 2 0.1% springfield district 2 0.1% taunton district 2 0.1% wrentham district 2 0.1% bmc brighton 1 0.1% concord district 1 0.1% gloucester district 1 0.1% hingham district 1 0.1% newburyport district 1 0.1% orange district 1 0.1% palmer district 1 0.1% plymouth district 1 0.1% westfield district 1 0.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 1398 14 Natural Person 591 1975 Total 1989 1989 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 70.3% 0.7% Natural Person 29.7% 99.3% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 1346 52 1398 Optional 309 282 591 Total 1655 334 1989 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 67.7% 2.6% 70.3% Optional 15.5% 14.2% 29.7% Total 83.2% 16.8% 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 14 14 Optional 39 1936 1975 Total 39 1950 1989 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.7% 0.7% Optional 2.0% 97.3% 99.3% Total 2.0% 98.0% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 112 5.6% 1 1472 74.0% 2 328 16.5% 3 55 2.8% 4 15 0.8% 5 4 0.2% 6 1 0.1% 9 1 0.1% 10 1 0.1% Total 1989 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 1375 69.1% Cause 262 13.2% No Fault 221 11.1% Unknown/Other 117 5.9% Foreclosure 14 0.7% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Hardwick 200 6 Gilbertville 173 2 Peru 118 1 Harwich Port 115 2 West Warren 88 1 East Falmouth 86 5 Fall River 82 73 Halifax 79 6 New Bedford 67 64 Chatham 65 4 Lanesborough 64 2 Dennis Port 63 2 Fitchburg 59 24 Yarmouth Port 59 3 Buzzards Bay 58 2 Worcester 57 105 West Yarmouth 56 3 Norwood 55 16 Sagamore Beach 55 2 Vineyard Haven 52 1 Athol 51 6 Brockton 51 48 Clinton 51 7 Stockbridge 51 1 Edgartown 49 2 Hyannis 49 7 Mashpee 49 7 Randolph 49 16 Chestnut Hill 47 1 Leominster 46 19 Lawrence 45 35 Oak Bluffs 44 2 Whitinsville 43 3 Bridgewater 41 11 Framingham 39 27 South Easton 39 4 Winchendon 38 4 Abington 37 6 Canton 37 8 Holbrook 37 4 North Falmouth 37 1 Braintree 36 13 Hanover 36 5 North Adams 36 5 Quincy 36 34 Foxborough 35 6 Lowell 35 38 Plympton 35 1 Southbridge 35 6 Winthrop 34 6 Blackstone 33 3 Haverhill 31 19 Marlborough 31 12 Cheshire 30 1 Dorchester 30 28 Sheffield 30 1 Brookfield 29 1 Dighton 28 2 East Sandwich 28 1 Jefferson 28 1 Milford 28 8 South Dennis 27 1 West Brookfield 27 1 Westminster 27 2 Westwood 27 4 Newton Centre 26 1 Newton Center 25 1 Spencer 25 3 Stoughton 25 7 Ashland 24 4 Roslindale 24 7 Salisbury 24 2 Douglas 23 2 Medway 23 3 North Easton 23 3 Webster 23 4 Avon 22 1 Forestdale 22 1 Hubbardston 22 1 Shrewsbury 22 8 Uxbridge 22 3 Mansfield 21 5 Middleborough 21 5 Norton 21 4 Somerville 21 16 Waltham 21 13 Marstons Mills 20 1 Gardner 19 4 Lunenburg 19 2 Maynard 19 2 Nantucket 19 2 Rochester 19 1 Warren 19 1 West Roxbury 19 6 Hingham 18 4 Lakeville 18 2 Roxbury 18 11 Dudley 17 2 East Boston 17 7 Holyoke 17 7 Mendon 17 1 Pittsfield 17 8 Revere 17 9 Taunton 17 10 East Weymouth 16 9 Granby 16 1 Jamaica Plain 16 6 Lynn 16 15 Medford 16 9 Scituate 16 3 Sudbury 16 3 Bourne 15 3 Franklin 15 5 Merrimac 15 1 Cambridge 14 15 Centerville 14 2 Chelsea 14 5 Holliston 14 2 Weymouth 14 8 Cohasset 13 1 Stoneham 13 3 Wareham 13 3 Lancaster 12 1 Natick 12 4 North Grafton 12 1 Northbridge 12 2 Plainville 12 1 Plymouth 12 7 Westport 12 2 Williamstown 12 1 Adams 11 1 Attleborough 11 5 Brighton 11 5 Danvers 11 3 Dartmouth 11 4 Dorchester Center 11 11 Littleton 11 1 Milton 11 3 Sharon 11 2 Sutton 11 1 Allston 10 3 Auburndale 10 1 Brewster 10 1 Dracut 10 3 Mattapan 10 4 North Attleborough 10 3 Sturbridge 10 1 Acushnet 9 1 Andover 9 3 Groton 9 1 Leicester 9 1 Ludlow 9 2 North Billerica 9 1 Peabody 9 5 Salem 9 4 Sandwich 9 2 Watertown 9 3 Wrentham 9 1 Belmont 8 2 Feeding Hills 8 1 Hyde Park 8 3 Malden 8 5 Medfield 8 1 Methuen 8 4 Palmer 8 1 South Yarmouth 8 1 Springfield 8 13 Wakefield 8 2 Bradford 7 1 Charlton 7 1 E. Boston 7 3 Marshfield 7 2 Millbury 7 1 North Andover 7 2 Oxford 7 1 Raynham 7 1 Wayland 7 1 Wellesley 7 2 Woburn 7 3 Duxbury 6 1 Gloucester 6 2 Hopkinton 6 1 Needham 6 2 Tewksbury 6 2 Beverly 5 2 Charlestown 5 1 Chicopee 5 3 Greenfield 5 1 Hudson 5 1 Pembroke 5 1 Rockland 5 1 Somerset 5 1 South Hadley 5 1 Westborough 5 1 Acton 4 1 Arlington 4 2 Boston 4 25 Dedham 4 1 East Wareham 4 1 Easton 4 1 Everett 4 2 Walpole 4 1 Westfield 4 2 Brookline 3 2 East Walpole 3 1 Needham Heights 3 1 Wellesley Hills 3 1 West Springfield 3 1 Chelmsford 2 1 South Dartmouth 2 1 Newton 1 1 Newton Highlands 1 1 North Weymouth 1 1 South Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 757 span 0 7 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 264 51 Plymouth 250 108 Bristol 223 184 Worcester 216 241 Norfolk 184 157 Berkshire 130 21 Dukes 121 5 Essex 89 98 Middlesex 79 185 Suffolk 70 140 Nantucket 56 2 Hampden 42 30 Hampshire 10 2 Franklin 9 1 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/.