Filings Month Ending 2021 April 30

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2021-04-01 Search Period End: 2021-04-30 Earliest Case: 2021-04-01 Latest Case: 2021-04-30 Total Cases: 1487 Total Transfers: 37 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 32.4% Of those, percentage pro se: 52.5% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: West Dennis Least stable with 10+ filings: Randolph Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Barnstable Cases per day: 51 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 central 259 17.4% northeast 247 16.6% eastern 238 16.0% southeast 218 14.7% western 206 13.9% metro_south 127 8.5% quincy district 22 1.5% framingham district 15 1.0% malden district 14 0.9% orleans district 13 0.9% pittsfield district 13 0.9% lynn district 10 0.7% brockton district 9 0.6% fall river district 9 0.6% barnstable district 8 0.5% fallmouth district 7 0.5% chelsea district 5 0.3% northern berkshire district 5 0.3% peabody district 5 0.3% woburn district 5 0.3% cambridge district 4 0.3% dedham district 4 0.3% haverhill district 4 0.3% lowell district 4 0.3% palmer district 4 0.3% bmc east boston 3 0.2% somerville district 3 0.2% springfield district 3 0.2% waltham district 3 0.2% ayer district 2 0.1% bmc brighton 2 0.1% bmc west roxbury 2 0.1% newburyport district 2 0.1% northampton district 2 0.1% bmc roxbury 1 0.1% lawrence district 1 0.1% leominster district 1 0.1% milford district 1 0.1% nantucket district 1 0.1% stoughton district 1 0.1% taunton district 1 0.1% wareham district 1 0.1% westfield district 1 0.1% wrentham district 1 0.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 1005 8 Natural Person 482 1479 Total 1487 1487 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 67.6% 0.5% Natural Person 32.4% 99.5% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 960 45 1005 Optional 229 253 482 Total 1189 298 1487 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 64.6% 3.0% 67.6% Optional 15.4% 17.0% 32.4% Total 80.0% 20.0% 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 35 1444 1479 Total 35 1452 1487 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.5% 0.5% Optional 2.4% 97.1% 99.5% Total 2.4% 97.6% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 118 7.9% 1 1073 72.2% 2 236 15.9% 3 41 2.8% 4 15 1.0% 5 2 0.1% 6 1 0.1% 8 1 0.1% Total 1487 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 940 63.2% No Fault 232 15.6% Cause 211 14.2% Unknown/Other 90 6.1% Foreclosure 14 0.9% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count West Dennis 137 3 Randolph 108 35 Dennis Port 94 3 West Wareham 92 2 Gardner 84 17 West Yarmouth 75 4 Framingham 74 51 Fitchburg 71 29 East Falmouth 69 4 Fall River 68 61 Provincetown 67 2 New Bedford 65 62 East Sandwich 57 2 Worcester 54 99 Bondsville 53 1 Baldwinville 52 1 Newton Center 51 2 Hinsdale 49 1 Avon 45 2 Athol 43 5 North Brookfield 42 2 Marstons Mills 41 2 Roslindale 41 12 Hull 38 4 Hyannis 35 5 Braintree 33 12 Ashby 32 1 Dedham 32 8 Fiskdale 32 1 Marlborough 31 12 Buzzards Bay 29 1 Lunenburg 29 3 North Adams 29 4 Southbridge 29 5 Webster 29 5 Osterville 28 1 Taunton 28 16 Holbrook 27 3 Sagamore Beach 27 1 South Dennis 27 1 Dorchester 26 24 Hudson 26 5 Pittsfield 26 12 Fairhaven 25 4 Brockton 24 23 Harwich 24 3 Norwood 24 7 Plainville 24 2 Adams 23 2 Forestdale 22 1 Leominster 22 9 Somerset 22 4 South Grafton 22 1 Quincy 21 20 Westborough 21 4 Attleborough 20 9 East Freetown 20 1 Eastham 20 1 Needham 20 6 Whitman 20 3 Marshfield 19 5 Nantucket 19 2 Newtonville 19 1 Westport 19 3 Winchendon 19 2 Yarmouth Port 19 1 Swansea 18 3 Dudley 17 2 Feeding Hills 17 2 Foxborough 17 3 Revere 17 9 Rockland 17 3 South Yarmouth 17 2 Everett 16 7 Mattapan 16 6 Bridgewater 15 4 East Taunton 15 1 Clinton 14 2 Dorchester Center 14 13 East Weymouth 14 8 Haverhill 14 9 Lynn 14 13 Mashpee 14 2 Northborough 14 2 Oxford 14 2 Raynham 14 2 West Bridgewater 14 1 Allston 13 4 Canton 13 3 Hopkinton 13 2 West Roxbury 13 4 Easthampton 12 2 Georgetown 12 1 Mansfield 12 3 Middleborough 12 3 North Dartmouth 12 3 Plymouth 12 7 Rutland 12 1 Salisbury 12 1 Brighton 11 5 Chelsea 11 4 Newburyport 11 2 Pembroke 11 2 Stoughton 11 3 Sudbury 11 2 Townsend 11 1 Winthrop 11 2 Brewster 10 1 Jamaica Plain 10 4 Malden 10 6 Milford 10 3 North Attleborough 10 3 Somerville 10 8 Southborough 10 1 Cambridge 9 10 Cherry Valley 9 1 Falmouth 9 3 Indian Orchard 9 1 Leicester 9 1 Stoneham 9 2 Wareham 9 2 Lowell 8 9 Palmer 8 1 Roxbury 8 5 Spencer 8 1 Tyngsborough 8 1 Walpole 8 2 West Harwich 8 1 Centerville 7 1 East Boston 7 3 Hanover 7 1 Lawrence 7 6 Millbury 7 1 Seekonk 7 1 Wellesley 7 2 Weymouth 7 4 Abington 6 1 Amesbury 6 1 Bellingham 6 1 Duxbury 6 1 Franklin 6 2 Northbridge 6 1 Hyde Park 5 2 Norton 5 1 South Boston 5 2 South Weymouth 5 3 Woburn 5 2 Hingham 4 1 Ludlow 4 1 Methuen 4 2 Wakefield 4 1 Westfield 4 2 Andover 3 1 East Walpole 3 1 Medford 3 2 Natick 3 1 North Andover 3 1 Tewksbury 3 1 Waltham 3 2 Arlington 2 1 Boston 2 14 Salem 2 1 Shrewsbury 2 1 Newton 1 1 Roxbury Crossing 1 1 Springfield 1 3 (not given) 0 553 span 0 3 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 233 45 Bristol 215 177 Worcester 181 202 Norfolk 149 127 Plymouth 145 63 Berkshire 117 19 Suffolk 57 114 Middlesex 56 131 Nantucket 56 2 Essex 34 38 Hampden 15 11 Hampshire 10 2 Dukes 0 0 Franklin 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. 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/.