Filings Week Ending 2022 May 14

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-05-08 Search Period End: 2022-05-14 Earliest Case: 2022-05-09 Latest Case: 2022-05-13 Total Cases: 648 Total Transfers: 16 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 37.5% Of those, percentage pro se: 52.7% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Cummaquid Least stable with 10+ filings: Chelsea Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Barnstable Cases per day: 108 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 127 19.6% northeast 111 17.1% southeast 98 15.1% central 87 13.4% western 81 12.5% metro_south 53 8.2% quincy district 14 2.2% pittsfield district 9 1.4% malden district 8 1.2% attleboro district 5 0.8% newburyport district 5 0.8% framingham district 4 0.6% lawrence district 4 0.6% springfield district 4 0.6% fall river district 3 0.5% northern berkshire district 3 0.5% somerville district 3 0.5% bmc west roxbury 2 0.3% brockton district 2 0.3% chelsea district 2 0.3% dedham district 2 0.3% haverhill district 2 0.3% woburn district 2 0.3% barnstable district 1 0.2% bmc roxbury 1 0.2% brookline district 1 0.2% chicopee district 1 0.2% concord district 1 0.2% eastern hampshire district 1 0.2% edgartown district 1 0.2% greenfield district 1 0.2% lynn district 1 0.2% nantucket district 1 0.2% new bedford district 1 0.2% newton district 1 0.2% orange district 1 0.2% orleans district 1 0.2% peabody district 1 0.2% westfield district 1 0.2% wrentham district 1 0.2% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 405 16 Natural Person 243 632 Total 648 648 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 62.5% 2.5% Natural Person 37.5% 97.5% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 387 18 405 Optional 115 128 243 Total 502 146 648 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 59.7% 2.8% 62.5% Optional 17.7% 19.8% 37.5% Total 77.5% 22.5% 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 16 16 Optional 10 622 632 Total 10 638 648 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 2.5% 2.5% Optional 1.5% 96.0% 97.5% Total 1.5% 98.5% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 62 9.6% 1 457 70.5% 2 108 16.7% 3 14 2.2% 4 4 0.6% 5 2 0.3% 8 1 0.2% Total 648 100.0% 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 305 47.1% Cause 172 26.5% No Fault 163 25.2% Foreclosure 8 1.2% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Cummaquid 182 1 North Chatham 142 1 Berlin 69 2 Hyannis 56 8 South Dennis 54 2 Hull 48 5 North Falmouth 37 1 South Yarmouth 34 4 Chelsea 31 11 Middleborough 25 6 Newton Center 25 1 Edgartown 24 1 Worcester 23 43 New Bedford 22 21 North Adams 21 3 Eastham 20 1 Pittsfield 20 9 Fall River 19 17 Quincy 19 18 Warren 19 1 Brockton 18 17 West Yarmouth 18 1 Foxborough 17 3 Rowley 17 1 Webster 17 3 Everett 16 7 Harwich 16 2 Mattapan 16 6 Mattapoisett 16 1 Merrimac 15 1 Millbury 15 2 Leominster 14 6 West Bridgewater 14 1 Whitinsville 14 1 Braintree 13 5 Revere 13 7 Dedham 12 3 Fitchburg 12 5 Franklin 12 4 Orange 12 1 Plainville 12 1 Randolph 12 4 Rutland 12 1 Taunton 12 7 Westport 12 2 Framingham 11 8 Pembroke 11 2 Somerville 11 9 Southbridge 11 2 Stoughton 11 3 Cambridge 10 11 Dorchester 10 10 Norton 10 2 Roslindale 10 3 Ware 10 1 Acushnet 9 1 Attleborough 9 4 Canton 9 2 Hanson 9 1 Holbrook 9 1 Leicester 9 1 Nantucket 9 1 Athol 8 1 Dudley 8 1 Spencer 8 1 Centerville 7 1 Charlton 7 1 Dorchester Center 7 7 Hanover 7 1 Marlborough 7 3 Mashpee 7 1 Medway 7 1 Northborough 7 1 Oxford 7 1 Plymouth 7 4 Abington 6 1 Amesbury 6 1 Auburn 6 1 Brookline 6 4 Fairhaven 6 1 Haverhill 6 4 Needham 6 2 North Attleborough 6 2 Norwood 6 2 Roxbury 6 4 Whitman 6 1 Charlestown 5 1 Greenfield 5 1 Hudson 5 1 Newburyport 5 1 Rockland 5 1 Scituate 5 1 Shrewsbury 5 2 Acton 4 1 Gardner 4 1 Mansfield 4 1 Wilmington 4 1 Agawam 3 1 Falmouth 3 1 Gloucester 3 1 Lawrence 3 3 Lynn 3 3 Malden 3 2 Medford 3 2 Milton 3 1 Weymouth 3 2 Beverly 2 1 East Boston 2 1 Hyde Park 2 1 Newton 2 2 Salem 2 1 Springfield 2 4 Boston 1 10 Chicopee 1 1 Newton Highlands 1 1 (not given) 0 239 Lowell 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 Barnstable 124 24 Plymouth 97 42 Berkshire 74 12 Bristol 70 58 Worcester 69 77 Norfolk 65 56 Suffolk 30 61 Nantucket 28 1 Dukes 24 1 Middlesex 21 50 Franklin 18 2 Essex 15 17 Hampden 8 6 Hampshire 5 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. 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/.