Filings Week Ending 2023 April 22

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2023-04-16 Search Period End: 2023-04-22 Earliest Case: 2023-04-17 Latest Case: 2023-04-21 Total Cases: 692 Total Transfers: 7 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 23.6% Of those, percentage pro se: 44.2% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Florence Least stable with 10+ filings: Norwood Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Plymouth Cases per day: 115 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 eastern 160 23.1% northeast 104 15.0% western 91 13.2% metro_south 78 11.3% southeast 68 9.8% central 66 9.5% lawrence district 22 3.2% quincy district 13 1.9% malden district 12 1.7% fall river district 8 1.2% cambridge district 7 1.0% lowell district 7 1.0% fallmouth district 6 0.9% dedham district 4 0.6% lynn district 4 0.6% stoughton district 4 0.6% somerville district 3 0.4% bmc dorchester 2 0.3% bmc west roxbury 2 0.3% brockton district 2 0.3% framingham district 2 0.3% gloucester district 2 0.3% milford district 2 0.3% pittsfield district 2 0.3% southern berkshire district 2 0.3% springfield district 2 0.3% waltham district 2 0.3% wareham district 2 0.3% wrentham district 2 0.3% attleboro district 1 0.1% barnstable district 1 0.1% chelsea district 1 0.1% hingham district 1 0.1% northern berkshire district 1 0.1% orleans district 1 0.1% palmer district 1 0.1% plymouth district 1 0.1% salem district 1 0.1% westfield district 1 0.1% woburn district 1 0.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 529 1 Natural Person 163 691 Total 692 692 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 76.4% 0.1% Natural Person 23.6% 99.9% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 518 11 529 Optional 91 72 163 Total 609 83 692 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 74.9% 1.6% 76.4% Optional 13.2% 10.4% 23.6% Total 88.0% 12.0% 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 7 684 691 Total 7 685 692 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% Optional 1.0% 98.8% 99.9% Total 1.0% 99.0% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 28 4.0% 1 543 78.5% 2 99 14.3% 3 14 2.0% 4 5 0.7% 5 2 0.3% 7 1 0.1% Total 692 100.0% 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 439 63.4% Cause 151 21.8% No Fault 99 14.3% Foreclosure 3 0.4% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Florence 316 3 Pocasset 69 2 Norwood 66 19 Ashfield 57 1 Stockbridge 51 1 Stoughton 40 11 Roxbury 38 23 Wellfleet 36 1 Buzzards Bay 29 1 Hull 29 3 Belchertown 27 4 Braintree 25 9 Fitchburg 24 10 Palmer 24 3 Fall River 23 21 Southbridge 23 4 Millbury 22 3 Arlington 21 9 North Brookfield 21 1 Marion 20 1 Brockton 19 18 Chelsea 19 7 Newtonville 19 1 Attleborough 18 8 Ludlow 18 4 Dudley 17 2 East Falmouth 17 1 Hyde Park 17 6 Mendon 17 1 Quincy 17 16 Everett 16 7 East Taunton 15 1 Hyannis 14 2 New Bedford 14 14 Whitinsville 14 1 Worcester 14 27 Whitman 13 2 Abington 12 2 North Grafton 12 1 Orange 12 1 Taunton 12 7 Adams 11 1 Charlestown 11 2 Greenfield 11 2 Marshfield 11 3 Sharon 11 2 Webster 11 2 Brewster 10 1 Mattapan 10 4 Dorchester 9 9 Franklin 9 3 Gardner 9 2 Indian Orchard 9 1 Leicester 9 1 Leominster 9 4 North Billerica 9 1 Norwell 9 1 Onset 9 2 Revere 9 5 Chelmsford 8 3 South Yarmouth 8 1 Spencer 8 1 Bridgewater 7 2 Cambridge 7 8 Dennis 7 1 Kingston 7 1 Mashpee 7 1 Milford 7 2 Milton 7 2 Northampton 7 2 South Weymouth 7 4 Ashland 6 1 Auburn 6 1 Duxbury 6 1 Fairhaven 6 1 Falmouth 6 2 Gloucester 6 2 Malden 6 4 Roslindale 6 2 Somerville 6 5 West Roxbury 6 2 Westport 6 1 Foxborough 5 1 Framingham 5 4 Holyoke 5 2 Jamaica Plain 5 2 Marlborough 5 2 Norton 5 1 Rockland 5 1 Somerset 5 1 Springfield 5 9 Weymouth 5 3 Brighton 4 2 Dedham 4 1 Dorchester Center 4 4 East Boston 4 2 East Wareham 4 1 Lynn 4 4 Middleborough 4 1 North Dartmouth 4 1 Pittsfield 4 2 Reading 4 1 Wakefield 4 1 Walpole 4 1 Wareham 4 1 Westfield 4 2 Boston 3 21 Brookline 3 2 Chicopee 3 2 East Walpole 3 1 East Weymouth 3 2 Medford 3 2 Needham Heights 3 1 Plymouth 3 2 Randolph 3 1 Amherst 2 1 Beverly 2 1 Lowell 2 3 South Dartmouth 2 1 North Weymouth 1 1 Waltham 1 1 (not given) 0 244 South Lee 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 Plymouth 97 42 Norfolk 93 80 Bristol 69 57 Barnstable 67 13 Worcester 56 63 Hampshire 54 10 Suffolk 46 91 Franklin 37 4 Hampden 32 23 Berkshire 24 4 Middlesex 22 53 Essex 6 7 Dukes 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/.