Filings Month Ending 2021 November 30

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2021-11-01 Search Period End: 2021-11-30 Earliest Case: 2021-11-01 Latest Case: 2021-11-30 Total Cases: 2195 Total Transfers: 44 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 35.3% Of those, percentage pro se: 52.6% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Southfield Least stable with 10+ filings: Southbridge Least stable with 100+ filings: Worcester Least stable county: Bristol Cases per day: 75 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 419 19.1% central 394 17.9% western 331 15.1% southeast 307 14.0% eastern 231 10.5% metro_south 198 9.0% malden district 31 1.4% fall river district 30 1.4% quincy district 25 1.1% cambridge district 17 0.8% attleboro district 14 0.6% lynn district 14 0.6% pittsfield district 14 0.6% waltham district 13 0.6% lowell district 10 0.5% bmc west roxbury 9 0.4% woburn district 9 0.4% barnstable district 8 0.4% springfield district 8 0.4% fallmouth district 7 0.3% northern berkshire district 7 0.3% somerville district 7 0.3% dedham district 6 0.3% lawrence district 6 0.3% peabody district 6 0.3% bmc central 5 0.2% bmc east boston 5 0.2% wrentham district 5 0.2% chelsea district 4 0.2% eastern hampshire district 4 0.2% newburyport district 4 0.2% gloucester district 3 0.1% milford district 3 0.1% palmer district 3 0.1% salem district 3 0.1% stoughton district 3 0.1% taunton district 3 0.1% bmc brighton 2 0.1% brockton district 2 0.1% framingham district 2 0.1% leominster district 2 0.1% nantucket district 2 0.1% new bedford district 2 0.1% orleans district 2 0.1% southern berkshire district 2 0.1% wareham district 2 0.1% westfield district 2 0.1% brookline district 1 0.0% clinton district 1 0.0% concord district 1 0.0% hingham district 1 0.0% holyoke district 1 0.0% newton district 1 0.0% northampton district 1 0.0% orange district 1 0.0% plymouth district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 1421 4 Natural Person 774 2191 Total 2195 2195 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 64.7% 0.2% Natural Person 35.3% 99.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 1363 58 1421 Optional 367 407 774 Total 1730 465 2195 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 62.1% 2.6% 64.7% Optional 16.7% 18.5% 35.3% Total 78.8% 21.2% 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 1 3 4 Optional 42 2149 2191 Total 43 2152 2195 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.1% 0.2% Optional 1.9% 97.9% 99.8% Total 2.0% 98.0% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 171 7.8% 1 1460 66.5% 2 464 21.1% 3 69 3.1% 4 25 1.1% 5 4 0.2% 6 1 0.0% 11 1 0.0% Total 2195 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 1258 57.3% Cause 477 21.7% No Fault 419 19.1% Foreclosure 37 1.7% Unknown/Other 4 0.2% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Southfield 202 1 Florida 132 1 Southbridge 125 21 Canton 106 23 East Falmouth 103 6 Pocasset 103 3 Fall River 97 87 Buzzards Bay 87 3 Lawrence 87 67 Athol 86 10 Seekonk 80 11 Gardner 79 16 South Easton 78 8 New Bedford 77 74 Fitchburg 76 31 Newtonville 76 4 Worcester 75 137 North Falmouth 74 2 Randolph 74 24 Marlborough 67 26 Lowell 59 63 Phillipston 59 1 Revere 59 31 East Sandwich 57 2 Milford 57 16 Hyannis 56 8 Russell 56 1 Framingham 55 38 Haverhill 54 33 Spencer 51 6 Everett 50 21 Indian Orchard 49 5 Chestnut Hill 47 1 Middleborough 47 11 Taunton 46 26 Avon 45 2 East Brookfield 45 1 Newbury 45 3 Quincy 45 42 West Dennis 45 1 Brockton 44 42 Dalton 44 3 North Adams 43 6 Whitinsville 43 3 Pittsfield 42 19 Acton 41 9 Bridgewater 41 11 Foxborough 41 7 Marstons Mills 41 2 Roslindale 41 12 Ayer 40 3 Nantucket 39 4 Attleborough 38 17 Mattapan 38 14 Leominster 36 15 Wellfleet 36 1 Dorchester 35 33 Douglas 35 3 Webster 35 6 West Barnstable 35 1 Berlin 34 1 Carver 34 4 South Yarmouth 34 4 Mattapoisett 33 2 Methuen 33 16 Provincetown 33 1 Ashburnham 32 2 Westborough 32 6 Dennis Port 31 1 Cheshire 30 1 Holyoke 30 12 Ware 30 3 Stoughton 29 8 Weymouth 29 16 Winchendon 29 3 Cambridge 28 30 Northborough 28 4 Rockland 28 5 Belchertown 27 4 East Boston 27 11 Holbrook 27 3 Norwood 27 8 Sagamore 27 1 Sagamore Beach 27 1 South Dennis 27 1 West Brookfield 27 1 Westminster 27 2 Whitman 27 4 Hyde Park 26 9 Upton 26 2 Boxford 25 2 Mansfield 25 6 North Grafton 25 2 Amesbury 24 4 Dedham 24 6 Georgetown 24 2 Lancaster 24 2 North Attleborough 24 7 Salisbury 24 2 Kingston 23 3 Monson 23 2 Peabody 23 12 Springfield 23 36 West Newbury 23 1 Blackstone 22 2 Centerville 22 3 Forestdale 22 1 Onset 22 5 Uxbridge 22 3 Dorchester Center 21 20 North Andover 21 6 Roxbury 21 13 East Freetown 20 1 Paxton 20 1 Braintree 19 7 Hull 19 2 Shrewsbury 19 7 Yarmouth Port 19 1 Cherry Valley 18 2 Franklin 18 6 Hingham 18 4 West Yarmouth 18 1 Allston 17 5 Dudley 17 2 Greenfield 17 3 Winthrop 17 3 Arlington 16 7 Dracut 16 5 East Weymouth 16 9 Harwich 16 2 Jamaica Plain 16 6 Salem 16 7 Waltham 16 10 East Taunton 15 1 Groveland 15 1 Hudson 15 3 North Easton 15 2 Somerville 15 12 Chelsea 14 5 Clinton 14 2 Dighton 14 1 Great Barrington 14 1 Hanover 14 2 Lynn 14 13 Mashpee 14 2 Medford 14 8 Oxford 14 2 Plymouth 14 8 Raynham 14 2 West Bridgewater 14 1 West Springfield 14 4 Brighton 13 6 East Wareham 13 3 Halifax 13 1 Hopkinton 13 2 South Weymouth 13 7 Tewksbury 13 4 Wareham 13 3 Woburn 13 5 Abington 12 2 Andover 12 4 Auburn 12 2 Chicopee 12 7 Easthampton 12 2 Fairhaven 12 2 Millis 12 1 Rutland 12 1 Walpole 12 3 Chelmsford 11 4 Littleton 11 1 Malden 11 7 Marshfield 11 3 Pembroke 11 2 Saugus 11 3 Somerset 11 2 Sudbury 11 2 Gloucester 10 3 Norton 10 2 Sturbridge 10 1 Acushnet 9 1 Billerica 9 4 Falmouth 9 3 Lunenburg 9 1 Maynard 9 1 North Billerica 9 1 Rochdale 9 1 Stoneham 9 2 Dartmouth 8 3 Medfield 8 1 Rehoboth 8 1 Bedford 7 1 Charlton 7 1 Dennis 7 1 Holliston 7 1 Swampscott 7 1 Wayland 7 1 Wilbraham 7 1 Bellingham 6 1 Swansea 6 1 Westport 6 1 Westwood 6 1 Beverly 5 2 Bourne 5 1 Charlestown 5 1 Grafton 5 1 Holden 5 1 Newburyport 5 1 Roxbury Crossing 5 3 Sharon 5 1 South Boston 5 2 South Hadley 5 1 Belmont 4 1 Boston 4 28 E. Boston 4 2 Ludlow 4 1 North Dartmouth 4 1 Reading 4 1 Sandwich 4 1 Westford 4 1 Winchester 4 1 Agawam 3 1 Danvers 3 1 Lexington 3 1 Melrose 3 1 Needham 3 1 West Roxbury 3 1 Amherst 2 1 Newton 2 2 Newton Highlands 2 2 South Dartmouth 2 1 Westfield 2 1 Brookline 1 1 North Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 468 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 Bristol 313 258 Worcester 288 321 Barnstable 279 54 Plymouth 273 118 Norfolk 211 180 Berkshire 198 32 Essex 167 184 Middlesex 122 285 Nantucket 113 4 Suffolk 103 205 Hampden 99 71 Hampshire 59 11 Franklin 28 3 Dukes 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/.