Filings Month Ending 2023 May 31

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2023-05-01 Search Period End: 2023-05-31 Earliest Case: 2023-05-01 Latest Case: 2023-05-31 Total Cases: 3512 Total Transfers: 86 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 25.9% Of those, percentage pro se: 51.8% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Florence Least stable with 10+ filings: Hyannis Least stable with 100+ filings: Fall River Least stable county: Bristol Cases per day: 117 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 677 19.3% northeast 675 19.2% central 493 14.0% western 481 13.7% southeast 417 11.9% metro_south 254 7.2% malden district 42 1.2% quincy district 42 1.2% brockton district 36 1.0% cambridge district 27 0.8% lynn district 24 0.7% barnstable district 21 0.6% fall river district 20 0.6% pittsfield district 20 0.6% chelsea district 18 0.5% haverhill district 18 0.5% lowell district 18 0.5% somerville district 18 0.5% northern berkshire district 12 0.3% attleboro district 11 0.3% new bedford district 11 0.3% waltham district 11 0.3% lawrence district 10 0.3% woburn district 10 0.3% bmc dorchester 8 0.2% framingham district 8 0.2% milford district 8 0.2% wrentham district 8 0.2% concord district 7 0.2% salem district 7 0.2% bmc west roxbury 6 0.2% brookline district 6 0.2% dedham district 6 0.2% nantucket district 6 0.2% peabody district 6 0.2% stoughton district 6 0.2% springfield district 5 0.1% bmc brighton 4 0.1% bmc central 4 0.1% holyoke district 4 0.1% orleans district 4 0.1% palmer district 4 0.1% chicopee district 3 0.1% newburyport district 3 0.1% newton district 3 0.1% wareham district 3 0.1% westfield district 3 0.1% ayer district 2 0.1% bmc east boston 2 0.1% bmc roxbury 2 0.1% fallmouth district 2 0.1% fitchburg district 2 0.1% gloucester district 2 0.1% taunton district 2 0.1% bmc charlestown 1 0.0% bmc south boston 1 0.0% clinton district 1 0.0% eastern hampshire district 1 0.0% hingham district 1 0.0% northampton district 1 0.0% orange district 1 0.0% plymouth district 1 0.0% uxbridge district 1 0.0% worcester district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 2602 13 Natural Person 910 3499 Total 3512 3512 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 74.1% 0.4% Natural Person 25.9% 99.6% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 2548 54 2602 Optional 439 471 910 Total 2987 525 3512 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 72.6% 1.5% 74.1% Optional 12.5% 13.4% 25.9% Total 85.1% 14.9% 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 1 12 13 Optional 30 3469 3499 Total 31 3481 3512 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.3% 0.4% Optional 0.9% 98.8% 99.6% Total 0.9% 99.1% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 207 5.9% 1 2620 74.6% 2 549 15.6% 3 97 2.8% 4 26 0.7% 5 9 0.3% 6 2 0.1% 7 2 0.1% Total 3512 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 2401 68.4% Cause 589 16.8% No Fault 486 13.8% Foreclosure 35 1.0% Unknown/Other 1 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Florence 210 2 Hyannis 191 27 Fall River 138 123 Fiskdale 129 4 Granville 127 2 New Bedford 123 117 Osterville 113 4 West Yarmouth 113 6 Stoughton 107 29 Baldwinville 105 2 Dorchester 105 97 Berlin 104 3 North Adams 102 14 Worcester 102 185 Randolph 99 32 Fitchburg 94 38 Buzzards Bay 87 3 Nahant 87 3 Athol 86 10 Framingham 84 58 Webster 83 14 Norwood 80 23 Brockton 79 75 West Stockbridge 76 1 Marlborough 75 29 Chester 74 1 Mansfield 73 17 Whitinsville 72 5 Danvers 71 19 Westborough 71 13 Canton 69 15 Gardner 69 14 Quincy 67 62 Foxborough 65 11 Southbridge 65 11 Dennis Port 63 2 Lynn 63 57 Wrentham 63 7 Everett 62 26 Holyoke 60 24 South Yarmouth 60 7 Lunenburg 59 6 Maynard 59 6 Nantucket 58 6 East Sandwich 57 2 Harwich Port 57 1 Mattapan 57 21 Rockland 57 10 Bridgewater 56 15 Chelsea 54 19 South Dennis 54 2 Vineyard Haven 52 1 Pittsfield 51 23 Spencer 51 6 Brewster 50 5 Revere 50 26 Taunton 50 28 North Truro 49 1 Ashland 48 8 Chestnut Hill 47 1 Hopkinton 46 7 West Wareham 46 1 Avon 45 2 Jamaica Plain 45 17 Salem 45 19 Medford 44 25 Raynham 44 6 South Grafton 44 2 Abington 43 7 Attleborough 43 19 Oxford 43 6 Haverhill 41 25 Eastham 40 2 Peabody 40 21 Kingston 39 5 Leominster 39 16 Milford 39 11 Hadley 38 2 Roslindale 38 11 Warren 38 2 Rochdale (Leicester) 37 1 Springfield 37 58 Clinton 36 5 Wellfleet 36 1 Adams 35 3 Charlestown 35 6 Dudley 35 4 West Barnstable 35 1 Chicopee 34 19 East Falmouth 34 2 Pocasset 34 1 Hardwick 33 1 Hopedale 33 2 East Boston 32 13 Millville 31 1 North Attleborough 31 9 Shrewsbury 30 11 Brookfield 29 1 Hull 29 3 Seekonk 29 4 South Easton 29 3 West Roxbury 29 9 Winchendon 29 3 Cambridge 28 30 Beverly 27 11 Sagamore 27 1 Westwood 27 4 Weymouth 27 15 Halifax 26 2 Hudson 26 5 Lawrence 26 20 Norton 26 5 Somerville 26 20 Arlington 25 11 Braintree 25 9 Feeding Hills 25 3 Lynnfield 25 3 Orange 25 2 Bellingham 24 4 Edgartown 24 1 Plainville 24 2 Plymouth 24 14 South Attleboro 24 2 Forestdale 22 1 Hingham 22 5 Middleton 22 2 Dorchester Center 21 20 Middleborough 21 5 North Brookfield 21 1 Northborough 21 3 East Freetown 20 1 Malden 20 12 Roxbury 20 12 Roxbury Crossing 20 12 Ware 20 2 Woburn 20 8 Indian Orchard 19 2 Lenox 19 1 Manchester 19 1 Marshfield 19 5 Andover 18 6 Cherry Valley 18 2 East Wareham 18 4 Holbrook 18 2 Saugus 18 5 Dover 17 1 Rowley 17 1 Sharon 17 3 West Springfield 17 5 Ashburnham 16 1 Dedham 16 4 Harwich 16 2 Mattapoisett 16 1 Newton Upper Falls 16 1 Orleans 16 1 Waltham 16 10 Berkley 15 1 Charlton 15 2 Franklin 15 5 Ipswich 15 2 Marblehead 15 3 North Easton 15 2 Centerville 14 2 Dalton 14 1 East Bridgewater 14 2 East Weymouth 14 8 Great Barrington 14 1 Holliston 14 2 Mashpee 14 2 Uxbridge 14 2 West Bridgewater 14 1 Allston 13 4 Ayer 13 1 Brookline 13 8 Cohasset 13 1 Gloucester 13 4 Upton 13 1 Wareham 13 3 West Boylston 13 1 Auburn 12 2 Easthampton 12 2 Fairhaven 12 2 Georgetown 12 1 Lowell 12 13 Natick 12 4 Westfield 12 5 Westport 12 2 Blackstone 11 1 Douglas 11 1 Greenfield 11 2 Hyde Park 11 4 Newburyport 11 2 South Hadley 11 2 South Weymouth 11 6 Sutton 11 1 Winthrop 11 2 Auburndale 10 1 Methuen 10 5 Southwick 10 1 Acushnet 9 1 Boston 9 57 Lakeville 9 1 Norwell 9 1 Stoneham 9 2 Belmont 8 2 Carver 8 1 North Dartmouth 8 2 Pepperell 8 1 South Boston 8 3 South Dartmouth 8 3 Tyngsborough 8 1 Wakefield 8 2 Medway 7 1 Melrose 7 2 Millbury 7 1 Swampscott 7 1 Amesbury 6 1 Belchertown 6 1 East Longmeadow 6 1 Needham 6 2 Northbridge 6 1 Swansea 6 1 Whitman 6 1 Grafton 5 1 Holden 5 1 Acton 4 1 Brighton 4 2 Burlington 4 1 Ludlow 4 1 Sandwich 4 1 Agawam 3 1 Dracut 3 1 Tewksbury 3 1 Wellesley 3 1 Amherst 2 1 Billerica 2 1 Chelmsford 2 1 E. Boston 2 1 Newton 2 2 Newton Highlands 1 1 North Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 1227 span 0 4 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 Bristol 423 348 Barnstable 398 77 Plymouth 375 162 Worcester 358 399 Norfolk 305 260 Berkshire 272 44 Essex 192 212 Hampden 173 123 Nantucket 170 6 Suffolk 170 336 Middlesex 126 296 Hampshire 65 12 Dukes 48 2 Franklin 37 4 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/.