Filings Week Ending 2023 January 14

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2023-01-08 Search Period End: 2023-01-14 Earliest Case: 2023-01-09 Latest Case: 2023-01-13 Total Cases: 791 Total Transfers: 21 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 28.2% Of those, percentage pro se: 62.3% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: West Warren Least stable with 10+ filings: Peabody Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Berkshire Cases per day: 131 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 164 20.7% eastern 155 19.6% western 112 14.2% southeast 98 12.4% central 93 11.8% metro_south 72 9.1% lynn district 13 1.6% pittsfield district 10 1.3% malden district 8 1.0% somerville district 8 1.0% lowell district 7 0.9% peabody district 6 0.8% lawrence district 5 0.6% northern berkshire district 5 0.6% quincy district 5 0.6% haverhill district 4 0.5% attleboro district 3 0.4% cambridge district 3 0.4% chelsea district 3 0.4% waltham district 3 0.4% chicopee district 2 0.3% salem district 2 0.3% ayer district 1 0.1% barnstable district 1 0.1% bmc dorchester 1 0.1% dedham district 1 0.1% edgartown district 1 0.1% framingham district 1 0.1% plymouth district 1 0.1% southern berkshire district 1 0.1% woburn district 1 0.1% worcester district 1 0.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 568 2 Natural Person 223 789 Total 791 791 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 71.8% 0.3% Natural Person 28.2% 99.7% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 546 22 568 Optional 84 139 223 Total 630 161 791 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 69.0% 2.8% 71.8% Optional 10.6% 17.6% 28.2% Total 79.6% 20.4% 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 2 2 Optional 4 785 789 Total 4 787 791 (%) 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 63 8.0% 1 573 72.4% 2 130 16.4% 3 18 2.3% 4 3 0.4% 5 4 0.5% Total 791 100.0% 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 555 70.2% Cause 116 14.7% No Fault 112 14.2% Foreclosure 8 1.0% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count West Warren 88 1 Gilbertville 86 1 South Easton 39 4 Peabody 35 18 Blackstone 33 3 New Bedford 32 31 Kingston 31 4 North Adams 29 4 Osterville 28 1 Beverly 27 11 Lynn 27 25 Saugus 26 7 Worcester 26 48 Plainville 24 2 Southbridge 23 4 Fall River 22 20 Haverhill 22 14 Oak Bluffs 22 1 Pittsfield 22 10 Rockland 22 4 Hyannis 21 3 Northborough 21 3 Norton 21 4 East Freetown 20 1 Malden 20 12 Walpole 20 5 Bridgewater 18 5 Stoughton 18 5 Lawrence 17 13 Attleborough 16 7 Quincy 16 15 Danvers 15 4 East Taunton 15 1 Dighton 14 1 Gardner 14 3 Great Barrington 14 1 Melrose 14 4 Braintree 13 5 Whitman 13 2 Billerica 12 5 Brockton 12 12 Fitchburg 12 5 Lexington 12 4 Marlborough 12 5 Randolph 12 4 Taunton 12 7 Adams 11 1 Littleton 11 1 Winthrop 11 2 Acushnet 9 1 Canton 9 2 Hanson 9 1 Hingham 9 2 Holbrook 9 1 Leominster 9 4 Stoneham 9 2 Athol 8 1 Burlington 8 2 Chelsea 8 3 Spencer 8 1 Waltham 8 5 Chicopee 7 4 Clinton 7 1 East Bridgewater 7 1 Framingham 7 5 Medway 7 1 Milford 7 2 Milton 7 2 Oxford 7 1 Revere 7 4 Salem 7 3 Swampscott 7 1 Wellesley 7 2 Woburn 7 3 Abington 6 1 Auburn 6 1 Bellingham 6 1 Duxbury 6 1 North Attleborough 6 2 Norwood 6 2 Somerville 6 5 Westwood 6 1 Grafton 5 1 Holden 5 1 Jamaica Plain 5 2 Lowell 5 6 Newburyport 5 1 Plymouth 5 3 Sharon 5 1 Shrewsbury 5 2 Sudbury 5 1 Westborough 5 1 Dedham 4 1 Everett 4 2 Mansfield 4 1 Middleborough 4 1 Reading 4 1 Wareham 4 1 Marshfield 3 1 North Andover 3 1 Roslindale 3 1 Watertown 3 1 West Springfield 3 1 Weymouth 3 2 Cambridge 2 3 Dorchester Center 2 2 Hyde Park 2 1 Mattapan 2 1 Methuen 2 1 Dorchester 1 1 Newton Lower Falls 1 1 South Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 325 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 Berkshire 99 16 Bristol 97 80 Essex 90 99 Plymouth 90 39 Worcester 75 84 Norfolk 62 53 Middlesex 29 68 Dukes 24 1 Barnstable 20 4 Suffolk 8 17 Hampden 7 5 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. 2023-01: We now report dispositions on the basis of the last disposition found in a docket. Previously we were using a prioritized keyword match, which produced inaccurate results for complex cases. -- When Citing This Work, Please Credit: MassLandlords, Inc. Available online at https://masslandlords.net/policy/eviction-data/.