Filings Week Ending 2022 October 08

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-10-02 Search Period End: 2022-10-08 Earliest Case: 2022-10-03 Latest Case: 2022-10-07 Total Cases: 899 Total Transfers: 23 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 24.2% Of those, percentage pro se: 56.9% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: West Yarmouth Least stable with 10+ filings: Norwood Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Plymouth Cases per day: 149 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 statistically significantly above the pre-pandemic housing crisis baseline. -- Courts (n) Count Percent northeast 197 21.9% eastern 159 17.7% western 142 15.8% southeast 112 12.5% central 105 11.7% metro_south 83 9.2% malden district 13 1.4% quincy district 8 0.9% attleboro district 6 0.7% waltham district 6 0.7% barnstable district 5 0.6% haverhill district 5 0.6% lynn district 5 0.6% springfield district 5 0.6% dedham district 4 0.4% hingham district 4 0.4% lowell district 4 0.4% brockton district 3 0.3% fall river district 3 0.3% newburyport district 3 0.3% pittsfield district 3 0.3% cambridge district 2 0.2% chelsea district 2 0.2% eastern hampshire district 2 0.2% new bedford district 2 0.2% southern berkshire district 2 0.2% stoughton district 2 0.2% ayer district 1 0.1% bmc central 1 0.1% bmc east boston 1 0.1% chicopee district 1 0.1% lawrence district 1 0.1% orleans district 1 0.1% palmer district 1 0.1% salem district 1 0.1% somerville district 1 0.1% woburn district 1 0.1% worcester district 1 0.1% wrentham district 1 0.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 681 1 Natural Person 218 898 Total 899 899 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 75.8% 0.1% Natural Person 24.2% 99.9% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 649 32 681 Optional 94 124 218 Total 743 156 899 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 72.2% 3.6% 75.8% Optional 10.5% 13.8% 24.2% Total 82.6% 17.4% 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 1 1 Optional 7 891 898 Total 7 892 899 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% Optional 0.8% 99.1% 99.9% Total 0.8% 99.2% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 76 8.5% 1 651 72.4% 2 149 16.6% 3 19 2.1% 4 3 0.3% 5 1 0.1% Total 899 100.0% 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 634 70.5% Cause 139 15.5% No Fault 119 13.2% Foreclosure 7 0.8% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count West Yarmouth 75 4 Norwood 59 17 Vineyard Haven 52 1 Lunenburg 49 5 Stoughton 44 12 Fall River 43 39 Bridgewater 41 11 Berlin 34 1 Fiskdale 32 1 Westborough 32 6 Hull 29 3 Hyannis 28 4 Randolph 28 9 Marshfield 27 7 New Bedford 25 24 Natick 24 8 Southbridge 23 4 Worcester 23 42 Rockland 22 4 South Grafton 22 1 Everett 21 9 Brewster 20 2 Hanson 19 2 Lenox 19 1 Nantucket 19 2 Amesbury 18 3 Bellingham 18 3 Attleborough 16 7 Lee 16 1 Taunton 16 9 Marlborough 15 6 Fitchburg 14 6 Milton 14 4 Northborough 14 2 Halifax 13 1 Hingham 13 3 West Boylston 13 1 Westwood 13 2 Auburn 12 2 Dedham 12 3 Fairhaven 12 2 Sterling 12 1 Walpole 12 3 Watertown 12 4 Blackstone 11 1 Braintree 11 4 Quincy 11 11 Townsend 11 1 Milford 10 3 Ware 10 1 Brockton 9 9 Canton 9 2 Gardner 9 2 Indian Orchard 9 1 Lakeville 9 1 Leominster 9 4 Haverhill 8 5 Middleborough 8 2 Palmer 8 1 Pittsfield 8 4 Shrewsbury 8 3 Centerville 7 1 Clinton 7 1 East Bridgewater 7 1 Mashpee 7 1 Swampscott 7 1 West Springfield 7 2 Abington 6 1 Ashland 6 1 Franklin 6 2 North Attleborough 6 2 Northbridge 6 1 Tewksbury 6 2 Westport 6 1 Whitman 6 1 Foxborough 5 1 Lynn 5 5 Malden 5 3 Norton 5 1 Plymouth 5 3 Scituate 5 1 Sudbury 5 1 East Wareham 4 1 North Dartmouth 4 1 Wakefield 4 1 Waltham 4 3 Wareham 4 1 Allston 3 1 East Weymouth 3 2 Peabody 3 2 Revere 3 2 Roslindale 3 1 Wellesley Hills 3 1 Chelsea 2 1 E. Boston 2 1 Framingham 2 2 Mattapan 2 1 Salem 2 1 Woburn 2 1 Cambridge 1 2 Chicopee 1 1 Lawrence 1 1 Medford 1 1 Somerville 1 1 Springfield 1 2 Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 492 Boston 0 1 Lowell 0 1 span 0 3 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 120 52 Bristol 104 86 Norfolk 90 77 Worcester 78 87 Barnstable 62 12 Nantucket 56 2 Berkshire 37 6 Dukes 24 1 Middlesex 20 47 Essex 16 18 Hampden 9 7 Hampshire 5 1 Suffolk 4 8 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/.