Filings Month Ending 2022 June 30

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-06-01 Search Period End: 2022-06-30 Earliest Case: 2022-06-01 Latest Case: 2022-06-30 Total Cases: 2429 Total Transfers: 56 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 33.2% Of those, percentage pro se: 59.4% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: West Dennis Least stable with 10+ filings: Norwood Least stable with 100+ filings: Worcester Least stable county: Plymouth Cases per day: 83 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 399 16.4% central 393 16.2% western 334 13.8% eastern 328 13.5% southeast 327 13.5% metro_south 280 11.5% quincy district 37 1.5% pittsfield district 31 1.3% lynn district 22 0.9% malden district 20 0.8% somerville district 16 0.7% waltham district 16 0.7% brockton district 14 0.6% attleboro district 12 0.5% bmc west roxbury 12 0.5% fall river district 12 0.5% framingham district 11 0.5% chelsea district 9 0.4% lowell district 9 0.4% bmc east boston 8 0.3% fallmouth district 8 0.3% haverhill district 8 0.3% northern berkshire district 8 0.3% peabody district 8 0.3% bmc brighton 7 0.3% orleans district 7 0.3% clinton district 6 0.2% salem district 6 0.2% wrentham district 6 0.2% cambridge district 5 0.2% new bedford district 5 0.2% barnstable district 4 0.2% newburyport district 4 0.2% newton district 4 0.2% springfield district 4 0.2% stoughton district 4 0.2% ayer district 3 0.1% concord district 3 0.1% dedham district 3 0.1% gloucester district 3 0.1% lawrence district 3 0.1% milford district 3 0.1% nantucket district 3 0.1% plymouth district 3 0.1% southern berkshire district 3 0.1% westfield district 3 0.1% woburn district 3 0.1% northampton district 2 0.1% bmc central 1 0.0% bmc roxbury 1 0.0% brookline district 1 0.0% chicopee district 1 0.0% eastern hampshire district 1 0.0% edgartown district 1 0.0% greenfield district 1 0.0% hingham district 1 0.0% orange district 1 0.0% wareham district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 1623 15 Natural Person 806 2414 Total 2429 2429 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 66.8% 0.6% Natural Person 33.2% 99.4% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 1557 66 1623 Optional 327 479 806 Total 1884 545 2429 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 64.1% 2.7% 66.8% Optional 13.5% 19.7% 33.2% Total 77.6% 22.4% 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 15 15 Optional 26 2388 2414 Total 26 2403 2429 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.6% 0.6% Optional 1.1% 98.3% 99.4% Total 1.1% 98.9% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 209 8.6% 1 1703 70.1% 2 424 17.5% 3 67 2.8% 4 12 0.5% 5 11 0.5% 6 1 0.0% 8 1 0.0% 9 1 0.0% Total 2429 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 1346 55.4% Cause 620 25.5% No Fault 430 17.7% Foreclosure 33 1.4% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count West Dennis 183 4 Norwood 143 41 Wrentham 136 15 Southbridge 119 20 East Dennis 116 3 Baldwinville 105 2 Fall River 105 94 Athol 103 12 East Falmouth 103 6 Bolton 102 5 Millis 101 8 Randolph 96 31 Hyannis 85 12 South Dennis 81 3 New Bedford 79 76 West Chatham 78 1 Middleborough 77 18 Worcester 77 140 Plainville 72 6 Berlin 69 2 Nantucket 68 7 Fitchburg 64 26 Pittsfield 64 29 Brockton 63 60 East Taunton 62 4 South Lancaster 61 1 Marlborough 59 23 North Adams 58 8 Winchendon 58 6 Whitinsville 57 4 Dedham 56 14 Framingham 55 38 Quincy 55 51 Stoughton 55 15 West Brookfield 54 2 Westborough 54 10 West Boylston 52 4 Spencer 51 6 Norton 47 9 Webster 47 8 Holbrook 46 5 Milford 46 13 Boylston 45 2 Rockland 45 8 Clinton 44 6 Gardner 44 9 Everett 43 18 Mattapan 43 16 Taunton 42 24 Attleborough 41 18 Braintree 41 15 Roslindale 41 12 Whitman 41 6 Brewster 40 4 Eastham 40 2 Marion 40 2 Lunenburg 39 4 Charlton 38 5 Newtonville 38 2 Bridgewater 37 10 North Falmouth 37 1 West Yarmouth 37 2 Bellingham 36 6 Wellfleet 36 1 Foxborough 35 6 Northborough 35 5 Plympton 35 1 Pocasset 34 1 Fiskdale 32 1 Chelsea 31 11 Cotuit 30 1 Millbury 30 4 Sheffield 30 1 Brookfield 29 1 Buzzards Bay 29 1 Milton 29 8 Holden 28 5 Jefferson 28 1 Winthrop 28 5 East Wareham 27 6 Onset 27 6 Sagamore 27 1 Sagamore Beach 27 1 Cohasset 26 2 Plymouth 26 15 Abington 25 4 Lynn 25 23 Shrewsbury 25 9 Leominster 24 10 Medford 24 14 Salisbury 24 2 Adams 23 2 Marshfield 23 6 Revere 23 12 Blackstone 22 2 Dorchester 22 21 Oak Bluffs 22 1 Sharon 22 4 Townsend 22 2 North Brookfield 21 1 Hyde Park 20 7 North Attleborough 20 6 Hull 19 2 Maynard 19 2 Warren 19 1 Yarmouth Port 19 1 Ashland 18 3 Cherry Valley 18 2 Leicester 18 2 South Barre 18 1 East Boston 17 7 Mendon 17 1 Belmont 16 4 Chatham 16 1 Dorchester Center 16 15 Harwich 16 2 Lee 16 1 Mattapoisett 16 1 Waltham 16 10 Franklin 15 5 Kingston 15 2 Great Barrington 14 1 Hanover 14 2 Mashpee 14 2 Raynham 14 2 West Bridgewater 14 1 Ayer 13 1 Halifax 13 1 Upton 13 1 Auburn 12 2 Lancaster 12 1 Natick 12 4 North Grafton 12 1 Watertown 12 4 Charlestown 11 2 Douglas 11 1 Middleton 11 1 Sutton 11 1 Auburndale 10 1 Gloucester 10 3 Hudson 10 2 Roxbury 10 6 Sturbridge 10 1 Acushnet 9 1 Haverhill 9 6 Lakeville 9 1 Salem 9 4 South Easton 9 1 Wareham 9 2 Cambridge 8 9 Carver 8 1 Dudley 8 1 Feeding Hills 8 1 Jamaica Plain 8 3 Lowell 8 9 North Dartmouth 8 2 Bedford 7 1 Beverly 7 3 Bradford 7 1 Centerville 7 1 E. Boston 7 3 East Bridgewater 7 1 East Weymouth 7 4 Peabody 7 4 Somerville 7 6 West Newton 7 1 Amesbury 6 1 Duxbury 6 1 Easthampton 6 1 Needham Heights 6 2 Northbridge 6 1 Swansea 6 1 Westport 6 1 Westwood 6 1 Greenfield 5 1 South Dartmouth 5 2 South Hadley 5 1 Weymouth 5 3 Woburn 5 2 Arlington 4 2 Canton 4 1 Hingham 4 1 Mansfield 4 1 Stoneham 4 1 Wakefield 4 1 Walpole 4 1 Westfield 4 2 Allston 3 1 Danvers 3 1 Dracut 3 1 Falmouth 3 1 Lexington 3 1 Malden 3 2 Needham 3 1 North Weymouth 3 2 Saugus 3 1 Wellesley Hills 3 1 West Roxbury 3 1 Holyoke 2 1 Lawrence 2 2 Methuen 2 1 South Boston 2 1 Springfield 2 4 Boston 1 10 Chicopee 1 1 Newton 1 1 Newton Highlands 1 1 South Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 962 North Scituate 0 1 span 0 5 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 Plymouth 365 158 Worcester 308 343 Norfolk 295 252 Bristol 294 242 Barnstable 269 52 Berkshire 260 42 Nantucket 199 7 Middlesex 71 166 Suffolk 67 133 Essex 48 53 Dukes 24 1 Hampden 12 9 Hampshire 10 2 Franklin 9 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/.