Filings Week Ending 2022 May 07

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-05-01 Search Period End: 2022-05-07 Earliest Case: 2022-05-02 Latest Case: 2022-05-06 Total Cases: 512 Total Transfers: 11 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 33.4% Of those, percentage pro se: 65.5% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Chestnut Hill Least stable with 10+ filings: Fall River Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Bristol Cases per day: 85 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 116 22.7% southeast 77 15.0% eastern 71 13.9% central 68 13.3% metro_south 61 11.9% western 50 9.8% chelsea district 6 1.2% haverhill district 6 1.2% lowell district 6 1.2% malden district 6 1.2% bmc east boston 4 0.8% lynn district 4 0.8% somerville district 3 0.6% woburn district 3 0.6% attleboro district 2 0.4% barnstable district 2 0.4% bmc brighton 2 0.4% cambridge district 2 0.4% edgartown district 2 0.4% framingham district 2 0.4% new bedford district 2 0.4% orleans district 2 0.4% palmer district 2 0.4% waltham district 2 0.4% bmc charlestown 1 0.2% bmc west roxbury 1 0.2% brockton district 1 0.2% chicopee district 1 0.2% dedham district 1 0.2% eastern hampshire district 1 0.2% lawrence district 1 0.2% pittsfield district 1 0.2% quincy district 1 0.2% springfield district 1 0.2% westfield district 1 0.2% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 341 6 Natural Person 171 506 Total 512 512 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 66.6% 1.2% Natural Person 33.4% 98.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 332 9 341 Optional 59 112 171 Total 391 121 512 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 64.8% 1.8% 66.6% Optional 11.5% 21.9% 33.4% Total 76.4% 23.6% 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 6 6 Optional 6 500 506 Total 6 506 512 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 1.2% 1.2% Optional 1.2% 97.7% 98.8% Total 1.2% 98.8% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 41 8.0% 1 374 73.0% 2 83 16.2% 3 11 2.1% 4 2 0.4% 7 1 0.2% Total 512 100.0% 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 258 50.4% Cause 128 25.0% No Fault 117 22.9% Foreclosure 9 1.8% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Chestnut Hill 94 2 Gilbertville 86 1 Fiskdale 64 2 Harwich Port 57 1 Chatham 32 2 Fall River 32 29 Newton Center 25 1 Plainville 24 2 Winthrop 22 4 East Freetown 20 1 Newtonville 19 1 Revere 19 10 Warren 19 1 Bridgewater 18 5 New Bedford 18 18 West Yarmouth 18 1 Chelsea 17 6 East Falmouth 17 1 Framingham 17 12 Walpole 16 4 Marlborough 15 6 Hyde Park 14 5 Quincy 14 13 Taunton 14 8 Canton 13 3 Westwood 13 2 Leominster 12 5 Worcester 12 22 Assonet 11 1 Brockton 11 11 Monson 11 1 Rockland 11 2 Stoughton 11 3 Hudson 10 2 Malden 10 6 Ware 10 1 Attleborough 9 4 East Boston 9 4 Fitchburg 9 4 Gardner 9 2 Haverhill 9 6 Hull 9 1 Nantucket 9 1 Randolph 9 3 Athol 8 1 Chelmsford 8 3 Dorchester 8 8 Dudley 8 1 Rehoboth 8 1 Clinton 7 1 Hyannis 7 1 Kingston 7 1 Mashpee 7 1 North Uxbridge 7 1 Northborough 7 1 Weymouth 7 4 Woburn 7 3 Abington 6 1 Ashland 6 1 Brighton 6 3 Fairhaven 6 1 North Attleborough 6 2 Norwood 6 2 West Roxbury 6 2 Westport 6 1 Foxborough 5 1 Holden 5 1 Jamaica Plain 5 2 Mattapan 5 2 Sharon 5 1 Southbridge 5 1 Webster 5 1 Belmont 4 1 Dedham 4 1 East Wareham 4 1 Mansfield 4 1 Middleborough 4 1 Agawam 3 1 Dorchester Center 3 3 East Walpole 3 1 East Weymouth 3 2 Lowell 3 4 Lynn 3 3 Medford 3 2 Milford 3 1 Natick 3 1 Plymouth 3 2 Roslindale 3 1 Saugus 3 1 South Weymouth 3 2 Waltham 3 2 Arlington 2 1 Boston 2 15 Braintree 2 1 E. Boston 2 1 Everett 2 1 Pittsfield 2 1 Shrewsbury 2 1 Chicopee 1 1 Lawrence 1 1 Newton Highlands 1 1 Peabody 1 1 Somerville 1 1 (not given) 0 183 Cambridge 0 1 Springfield 0 1 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 81 67 Plymouth 57 25 Norfolk 55 47 Worcester 42 47 Barnstable 36 7 Suffolk 33 66 Nantucket 28 1 Middlesex 21 50 Essex 10 12 Berkshire 6 1 Hampden 5 4 Hampshire 5 1 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. Methodology changes: 2022-03: Where docket history shows judgment and/or execution, but case has not been disposed, infer judgment and/or execution. 2022-05: Correct counting error in 'By prevailing party' section where agreement for judgment renders prevailing party unknown. Rows now sum to total. -- When Citing This Work, Please Credit: MassLandlords, Inc. Available online at https://masslandlords.net/policy/eviction-data/.