Filings Week Ending 2022 October 29

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-10-23 Search Period End: 2022-10-29 Earliest Case: 2022-10-24 Latest Case: 2022-10-28 Total Cases: 744 Total Transfers: 15 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 24.9% Of those, percentage pro se: 58.4% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: West Wareham Least stable with 10+ filings: Roslindale Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Plymouth Cases per day: 124 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 135 18.1% eastern 127 17.1% central 120 16.1% western 92 12.4% southeast 76 10.2% metro_south 48 6.5% bmc west roxbury 18 2.4% brockton district 12 1.6% lowell district 12 1.6% lynn district 12 1.6% northern berkshire district 9 1.2% cambridge district 7 0.9% bmc east boston 6 0.8% chelsea district 6 0.8% peabody district 6 0.8% quincy district 6 0.8% somerville district 6 0.8% salem district 5 0.7% attleboro district 4 0.5% woburn district 4 0.5% lawrence district 3 0.4% pittsfield district 3 0.4% waltham district 3 0.4% brookline district 2 0.3% fall river district 2 0.3% fallmouth district 2 0.3% nantucket district 2 0.3% northampton district 2 0.3% ayer district 1 0.1% barnstable district 1 0.1% bmc brighton 1 0.1% eastern hampshire district 1 0.1% haverhill district 1 0.1% malden district 1 0.1% milford district 1 0.1% natick district 1 0.1% orleans district 1 0.1% taunton district 1 0.1% uxbridge district 1 0.1% westfield district 1 0.1% worcester district 1 0.1% wrentham district 1 0.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 559 2 Natural Person 185 742 Total 744 744 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 75.1% 0.3% Natural Person 24.9% 99.7% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 520 39 559 Optional 77 108 185 Total 597 147 744 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 69.9% 5.2% 75.1% Optional 10.3% 14.5% 24.9% Total 80.2% 19.8% 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 2 2 Optional 4 738 742 Total 4 740 744 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.3% 0.3% Optional 0.5% 99.2% 99.7% Total 0.5% 99.5% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 69 9.3% 1 563 75.7% 2 94 12.6% 3 12 1.6% 4 5 0.7% 5 1 0.1% Total 744 100.0% 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 504 67.7% Cause 127 17.1% No Fault 100 13.4% Foreclosure 12 1.6% Unknown/Other 1 0.1% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count West Wareham 138 3 Roslindale 62 18 North Adams 58 8 Lakeville 56 6 North Brookfield 42 2 East Dennis 38 1 Hyannis 35 5 Pocasset 34 1 East Taunton 31 2 Worcester 30 55 Revere 27 14 South Yarmouth 25 3 Fall River 23 21 Webster 23 4 Winthrop 22 4 Allston 20 6 Framingham 20 14 Marion 20 1 Marlborough 20 8 Brockton 19 18 Fitchburg 19 8 Gardner 19 4 Lunenburg 19 2 Nantucket 19 2 South Easton 19 2 Warren 19 1 Canton 18 4 East Falmouth 17 1 Southbridge 17 3 Spencer 17 2 Mattapan 16 6 New Bedford 16 16 Orleans 16 1 Westborough 16 3 Weymouth 16 9 Berkley 15 1 Bridgewater 15 4 Natick 15 5 Medford 14 8 Stoughton 14 4 Lynn 13 12 North Reading 13 2 Dedham 12 3 Leominster 12 5 Adams 11 1 Blackstone 11 1 Braintree 11 4 Charlestown 11 2 Peabody 11 6 Sharon 11 2 Somerset 11 2 Beverly 10 4 Dorchester 10 10 Ware 10 1 Wellesley Hills 10 3 Attleborough 9 4 Dorchester Center 9 9 Cambridge 8 9 Lowell 8 9 Clinton 7 1 Hanover 7 1 Taunton 7 4 Uxbridge 7 1 Brighton 6 3 North Attleborough 6 2 Northbridge 6 1 Norwood 6 2 Pittsfield 6 3 Randolph 6 2 Westport 6 1 Westwood 6 1 Brookline 5 3 Chelsea 5 2 Foxborough 5 1 Hudson 5 1 Jamaica Plain 5 2 Quincy 5 5 Rockland 5 1 Roxbury 5 3 Scituate 5 1 Woburn 5 2 Billerica 4 2 E. Boston 4 2 East Boston 4 2 East Wareham 4 1 Salem 4 2 Wakefield 4 1 Waltham 4 3 Wareham 4 1 Boston 3 22 Dracut 3 1 Falmouth 3 1 Lawrence 3 3 Milford 3 1 Plymouth 3 2 Everett 2 1 Hyde Park 2 1 South Boston 2 1 South Dartmouth 2 1 Westfield 2 1 East Weymouth 1 1 Haverhill 1 1 North Weymouth 1 1 Roxbury Crossing 1 1 (not given) 0 279 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 90 39 Worcester 84 94 Berkshire 74 12 Bristol 68 56 Barnstable 67 13 Nantucket 56 2 Suffolk 54 108 Norfolk 52 45 Middlesex 28 66 Essex 25 28 Hampshire 5 1 Hampden 1 1 Dukes 0 0 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/.