Filings Week Ending 2022 November 19

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-11-13 Search Period End: 2022-11-19 Earliest Case: 2022-11-14 Latest Case: 2022-11-18 Total Cases: 850 Total Transfers: 13 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 28.8% Of those, percentage pro se: 52.7% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Sandisfield Least stable with 10+ filings: Worcester Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Worcester Cases per day: 141 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 central 161 18.9% eastern 144 16.9% western 129 15.2% northeast 116 13.6% southeast 107 12.6% metro_south 62 7.3% fall river district 14 1.6% quincy district 12 1.4% lynn district 11 1.3% framingham district 10 1.2% northern berkshire district 10 1.2% chelsea district 6 0.7% malden district 6 0.7% peabody district 6 0.7% woburn district 6 0.7% new bedford district 5 0.6% pittsfield district 5 0.6% lowell district 4 0.5% worcester district 4 0.5% fallmouth district 3 0.4% bmc east boston 2 0.2% brockton district 2 0.2% cambridge district 2 0.2% fitchburg district 2 0.2% haverhill district 2 0.2% milford district 2 0.2% newton district 2 0.2% wrentham district 2 0.2% attleboro district 1 0.1% barnstable district 1 0.1% bmc brighton 1 0.1% bmc central 1 0.1% bmc roxbury 1 0.1% hingham district 1 0.1% northampton district 1 0.1% salem district 1 0.1% somerville district 1 0.1% southern berkshire district 1 0.1% springfield district 1 0.1% stoughton district 1 0.1% waltham district 1 0.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 605 0 Natural Person 245 850 Total 850 850 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 71.2% 0.0% Natural Person 28.8% 100.0% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 551 54 605 Optional 116 129 245 Total 667 183 850 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 64.8% 6.4% 71.2% Optional 13.6% 15.2% 28.8% Total 78.5% 21.5% 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 0 0 Optional 7 843 850 Total 7 843 850 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Optional 0.8% 99.2% 100.0% Total 0.8% 99.2% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 95 11.2% 1 605 71.2% 2 122 14.4% 3 17 2.0% 4 8 0.9% 5 2 0.2% 6 1 0.1% Total 850 100.0% 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 517 60.8% Cause 169 19.9% No Fault 154 18.1% Foreclosure 10 1.2% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Sandisfield 109 1 North Adams 65 9 Buzzards Bay 58 2 East Falmouth 51 3 Worcester 49 89 New Bedford 42 40 North Brookfield 42 2 Framingham 35 24 Athol 34 4 Fall River 34 31 Fitchburg 32 13 Cheshire 30 1 Osterville 28 1 Whitinsville 28 2 Bellingham 24 4 Gardner 24 5 North Dighton 23 1 Webster 23 4 Stoughton 22 6 Marlborough 20 8 Lenox 19 1 South Easton 19 2 Canton 18 4 West Yarmouth 18 1 Brockton 17 16 Mendon 17 1 Middleborough 17 4 Southbridge 17 3 Quincy 16 15 Berkley 15 1 Kingston 15 2 Wareham 13 3 West Boylston 13 1 Weymouth 13 7 Leominster 12 5 Millis 12 1 Taunton 12 7 Adams 11 1 Foxborough 11 2 Lynn 11 10 Rockland 11 2 Somerset 11 2 Winthrop 11 2 Hudson 10 2 Norton 10 2 Tewksbury 10 3 Woburn 10 4 Attleborough 9 4 Cherry Valley 9 1 East Wareham 9 2 Holbrook 9 1 Hull 9 1 Lakeville 9 1 Onset 9 2 Peabody 9 5 Stoneham 9 2 Chelsea 8 3 Dudley 8 1 Mansfield 8 2 Medfield 8 1 Spencer 8 1 Walpole 8 2 Bridgewater 7 2 Charlton 7 1 East Bridgewater 7 1 Hanover 7 1 Holliston 7 1 Hyannis 7 1 Mashpee 7 1 Northborough 7 1 Raynham 7 1 South Weymouth 7 4 Uxbridge 7 1 West Newton 7 1 Abington 6 1 Duxbury 6 1 Fairhaven 6 1 Falmouth 6 2 Franklin 6 2 Natick 6 2 Northbridge 6 1 Pittsfield 6 3 Randolph 6 2 Westport 6 1 Whitman 6 1 Braintree 5 2 Malden 5 3 Revere 5 3 Shrewsbury 5 2 Dedham 4 1 Everett 4 2 Hingham 4 1 Allston 3 1 Dorchester 3 3 Haverhill 3 2 Milford 3 1 Milton 3 1 North Attleborough 3 1 Plymouth 3 2 Saugus 3 1 Arlington 2 1 Hyde Park 2 1 South Dartmouth 2 1 Dorchester Center 1 1 Newton 1 1 Roxbury 1 1 Somerville 1 1 (not given) 0 396 Boston 0 1 Cambridge 0 1 Lowell 0 1 Springfield 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 124 139 Bristol 117 97 Berkshire 99 16 Plymouth 99 43 Norfolk 64 55 Barnstable 56 11 Middlesex 24 57 Essex 16 18 Suffolk 8 16 Hampden 1 1 Dukes 0 0 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/.