Filings Week Ending 2022 June 11

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-06-05 Search Period End: 2022-06-11 Earliest Case: 2022-06-06 Latest Case: 2022-06-10 Total Cases: 555 Total Transfers: 15 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 38.4% Of those, percentage pro se: 64.3% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Millis Least stable with 10+ filings: Norwood Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Nantucket Cases per day: 92 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 103 18.6% metro_south 87 15.7% eastern 82 14.8% northeast 79 14.2% southeast 70 12.6% western 69 12.4% quincy district 10 1.8% framingham district 5 0.9% lowell district 5 0.9% northern berkshire district 4 0.7% brockton district 3 0.5% chelsea district 3 0.5% lynn district 3 0.5% orleans district 3 0.5% somerville district 3 0.5% cambridge district 2 0.4% concord district 2 0.4% fallmouth district 2 0.4% haverhill district 2 0.4% malden district 2 0.4% nantucket district 2 0.4% pittsfield district 2 0.4% springfield district 2 0.4% attleboro district 1 0.2% bmc central 1 0.2% chicopee district 1 0.2% fall river district 1 0.2% gloucester district 1 0.2% newburyport district 1 0.2% newton district 1 0.2% orange district 1 0.2% salem district 1 0.2% waltham district 1 0.2% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 342 1 Natural Person 213 554 Total 555 555 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 61.6% 0.2% Natural Person 38.4% 99.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 329 13 342 Optional 76 137 213 Total 405 150 555 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 59.3% 2.3% 61.6% Optional 13.7% 24.7% 38.4% Total 73.0% 27.0% 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 1 1 Optional 7 547 554 Total 7 548 555 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.2% 0.2% Optional 1.3% 98.6% 99.8% Total 1.3% 98.7% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 56 10.1% 1 367 66.1% 2 103 18.6% 3 19 3.4% 4 6 1.1% 5 4 0.7% Total 555 100.0% 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 279 50.3% Cause 144 25.9% No Fault 118 21.3% Foreclosure 14 2.5% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Millis 88 7 East Dennis 77 2 West Brookfield 54 2 Norwood 52 15 Nantucket 39 4 North Falmouth 37 1 Berlin 34 1 East Falmouth 34 2 Fiskdale 32 1 Milford 32 9 North Adams 29 4 Webster 29 5 Whitinsville 28 2 Holbrook 27 3 Sagamore Beach 27 1 South Dennis 27 1 Athol 25 3 Spencer 25 3 Mattapan 24 9 Brockton 23 22 Boylston 22 1 Worcester 22 41 Hyannis 21 3 Norton 21 4 Fall River 20 18 Marion 20 1 Fitchburg 19 8 Newtonville 19 1 Milton 18 5 Randolph 18 6 South Barre 18 1 Stoughton 18 5 Chatham 16 1 Quincy 16 15 Bridgewater 15 4 East Taunton 15 1 Kingston 15 2 Millbury 15 2 Chelsea 14 5 Clinton 14 2 Shrewsbury 14 5 West Bridgewater 14 1 Dorchester 13 12 Belmont 12 3 Lancaster 12 1 Plainville 12 1 Taunton 12 7 Adams 11 1 Attleborough 11 5 Charlestown 11 2 Foxborough 11 2 Framingham 11 8 Revere 11 6 Rockland 11 2 Southbridge 11 2 Brewster 10 1 Sturbridge 10 1 Dorchester Center 9 9 Hull 9 1 Lunenburg 9 1 Maynard 9 1 Winchendon 9 1 Braintree 8 3 Carver 8 1 Dudley 8 1 Jamaica Plain 8 3 Middleborough 8 2 New Bedford 8 8 Bedford 7 1 Charlton 7 1 East Boston 7 3 East Bridgewater 7 1 Hanover 7 1 Raynham 7 1 West Newton 7 1 Bellingham 6 1 Duxbury 6 1 Swansea 6 1 Whitman 6 1 East Weymouth 5 3 Holden 5 1 Hudson 5 1 Marlborough 5 2 Plymouth 5 3 Westborough 5 1 Arlington 4 2 Cambridge 4 5 East Wareham 4 1 Gardner 4 1 Lowell 4 5 Allston 3 1 Dracut 3 1 Franklin 3 1 Gloucester 3 1 Haverhill 3 2 Lexington 3 1 Lynn 3 3 Marshfield 3 1 North Attleborough 3 1 Watertown 3 1 Weymouth 3 2 Beverly 2 1 Everett 2 1 Hyde Park 2 1 Leominster 2 1 Pittsfield 2 1 Somerville 2 2 South Boston 2 1 Chicopee 1 1 Malden 1 1 Medford 1 1 Newton 1 1 North Weymouth 1 1 Peabody 1 1 Roxbury 1 1 Springfield 1 2 (not given) 0 165 Boston 0 6 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 Nantucket 113 4 Plymouth 104 45 Worcester 88 98 Norfolk 82 70 Barnstable 62 12 Bristol 55 46 Berkshire 37 6 Suffolk 29 59 Middlesex 16 39 Essex 7 8 Hampden 4 3 Dukes 0 0 Franklin 0 0 Hampshire 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/.