Filings Week Ending 2022 August 27

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-08-21 Search Period End: 2022-08-27 Earliest Case: 2022-08-22 Latest Case: 2022-08-26 Total Cases: 613 Total Transfers: 17 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 29.9% Of those, percentage pro se: 56.3% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Woronoco Least stable with 10+ filings: Stoughton Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Worcester Cases per day: 102 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 131 21.4% western 120 19.6% central 96 15.7% eastern 72 11.7% metro_south 64 10.4% southeast 62 10.1% chelsea district 8 1.3% malden district 7 1.1% lynn district 6 1.0% salem district 6 1.0% quincy district 5 0.8% brockton district 3 0.5% bmc dorchester 2 0.3% cambridge district 2 0.3% fall river district 2 0.3% haverhill district 2 0.3% lawrence district 2 0.3% new bedford district 2 0.3% pittsfield district 2 0.3% waltham district 2 0.3% westfield district 2 0.3% worcester district 2 0.3% attleboro district 1 0.2% chicopee district 1 0.2% dedham district 1 0.2% fallmouth district 1 0.2% fitchburg district 1 0.2% holyoke district 1 0.2% lowell district 1 0.2% milford district 1 0.2% orleans district 1 0.2% peabody district 1 0.2% somerville district 1 0.2% springfield district 1 0.2% woburn district 1 0.2% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 430 1 Natural Person 183 612 Total 613 613 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 70.1% 0.2% Natural Person 29.9% 99.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 423 7 430 Optional 80 103 183 Total 503 110 613 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 69.0% 1.1% 70.1% Optional 13.1% 16.8% 29.9% Total 82.1% 17.9% 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 11 601 612 Total 11 602 613 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.2% 0.2% Optional 1.8% 98.0% 99.8% Total 1.8% 98.2% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 36 5.9% 1 460 75.0% 2 106 17.3% 3 6 1.0% 4 5 0.8% Total 613 100.0% 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 436 71.1% Cause 89 14.5% No Fault 85 13.9% Foreclosure 3 0.5% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Woronoco 900 1 Chilmark 115 1 East Falmouth 103 6 Royalston 79 1 Berlin 69 2 Baldwinville 52 1 Hinsdale 49 1 Stoughton 37 10 Webster 35 6 Marlborough 31 12 Jefferson 28 1 South Dennis 27 1 Whitman 27 4 Worcester 26 48 Braintree 25 9 Mattapan 21 8 Milford 21 6 Brewster 20 2 East Weymouth 20 11 Revere 19 10 Athol 17 2 Dorchester 17 16 Southbridge 17 3 Fall River 16 15 Taunton 16 9 Danvers 15 4 Harvard 15 1 Chelsea 14 5 Hyde Park 14 5 Mashpee 14 2 New Bedford 14 14 West Bridgewater 14 1 Middleborough 12 3 Millis 12 1 North Grafton 12 1 Northbridge 12 2 Brockton 11 11 Lynn 11 10 Malden 11 7 Quincy 11 11 Rockland 11 2 Winthrop 11 2 Fayville 10 1 Norwood 10 3 Southwick 10 1 Gardner 9 2 Hull 9 1 Leominster 9 4 Randolph 9 3 Carver 8 1 Medfield 8 1 Rehoboth 8 1 Arlington 7 3 Centerville 7 1 Dorchester Center 7 7 Hanover 7 1 Holliston 7 1 Hyannis 7 1 Oxford 7 1 Salem 7 3 Saugus 7 2 Uxbridge 7 1 Auburn 6 1 Brighton 6 3 Roxbury 6 4 Waltham 6 4 West Roxbury 6 2 Foxborough 5 1 Medford 5 3 Norton 5 1 South Boston 5 2 Westborough 5 1 Attleborough 4 2 Canton 4 1 East Boston 4 2 Everett 4 2 Mansfield 4 1 Stoneham 4 1 Wakefield 4 1 Walpole 4 1 Wareham 4 1 Bridgewater 3 1 Cambridge 3 4 Franklin 3 1 Haverhill 3 2 Lawrence 3 3 Marshfield 3 1 Peabody 3 2 Holyoke 2 1 Jamaica Plain 2 1 Methuen 2 1 South Dartmouth 2 1 Brookline 1 1 Chicopee 1 1 Framingham 1 1 North Weymouth 1 1 Plymouth 1 1 South Weymouth 1 1 Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 240 Boston 0 5 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 Worcester 76 85 Barnstable 67 13 Norfolk 66 57 Plymouth 64 28 Bristol 53 44 Suffolk 36 72 Dukes 24 1 Essex 24 27 Middlesex 17 40 Berkshire 6 1 Hampden 5 4 Franklin 0 0 Hampshire 0 0 Nantucket 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/.