Filings Quarter Ending 2023 June 30

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2023-04-01 Search Period End: 2023-06-30 Earliest Case: 2023-04-03 Latest Case: 2023-06-30 Total Cases: 9582 Total Transfers: 196 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 24.8% Of those, percentage pro se: 51.8% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Florence Least stable with 10+ filings: Fall River Least stable with 100+ filings: Fall River Least stable county: Bristol Cases per day: 106 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 1830 19.1% northeast 1803 18.8% central 1377 14.4% western 1365 14.2% southeast 1033 10.8% metro_south 817 8.5% quincy district 105 1.1% malden district 101 1.1% lynn district 77 0.8% fall river district 69 0.7% lowell district 68 0.7% brockton district 60 0.6% pittsfield district 60 0.6% lawrence district 55 0.6% cambridge district 49 0.5% somerville district 48 0.5% haverhill district 46 0.5% chelsea district 43 0.4% attleboro district 35 0.4% northern berkshire district 35 0.4% framingham district 33 0.3% barnstable district 30 0.3% springfield district 29 0.3% waltham district 29 0.3% bmc dorchester 24 0.3% woburn district 24 0.3% new bedford district 20 0.2% bmc west roxbury 19 0.2% milford district 18 0.2% salem district 18 0.2% newburyport district 15 0.2% dedham district 14 0.1% wrentham district 14 0.1% peabody district 13 0.1% bmc east boston 12 0.1% orleans district 12 0.1% stoughton district 12 0.1% concord district 11 0.1% bmc central 10 0.1% hingham district 10 0.1% wareham district 10 0.1% brookline district 9 0.1% chicopee district 9 0.1% fallmouth district 9 0.1% palmer district 9 0.1% gloucester district 8 0.1% ayer district 7 0.1% bmc brighton 7 0.1% nantucket district 7 0.1% newton district 7 0.1% taunton district 6 0.1% westfield district 6 0.1% edgartown district 5 0.1% holyoke district 5 0.1% plymouth district 5 0.1% uxbridge district 5 0.1% bmc roxbury 3 0.0% natick district 3 0.0% southern berkshire district 3 0.0% worcester district 3 0.0% bmc south boston 2 0.0% clinton district 2 0.0% fitchburg district 2 0.0% northampton district 2 0.0% bmc charlestown 1 0.0% eastern hampshire district 1 0.0% greenfield district 1 0.0% leominster district 1 0.0% orange district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 7207 29 Natural Person 2375 9553 Total 9582 9582 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 75.2% 0.3% Natural Person 24.8% 99.7% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 7045 162 7207 Optional 1145 1230 2375 Total 8190 1392 9582 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 73.5% 1.7% 75.2% Optional 11.9% 12.8% 24.8% Total 85.5% 14.5% 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 3 26 29 Optional 78 9475 9553 Total 81 9501 9582 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.3% 0.3% Optional 0.8% 98.9% 99.7% Total 0.8% 99.2% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 476 5.0% 1 7066 73.7% 2 1661 17.3% 3 266 2.8% 4 74 0.8% 5 25 0.3% 6 6 0.1% 7 6 0.1% 8 1 0.0% 9 1 0.0% Total 9582 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 6622 69.1% Cause 1609 16.8% No Fault 1241 13.0% Foreclosure 106 1.1% Unknown/Other 4 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Florence 738 7 Fall River 346 308 Hyannis 319 45 New Bedford 301 287 Fiskdale 291 9 Worcester 287 521 Framingham 275 188 Southbridge 269 45 Marlborough 264 102 Fitchburg 262 106 Stoughton 252 68 Holyoke 250 100 Randolph 242 78 Dorchester 238 219 Chestnut Hill 235 5 Brockton 232 218 Norwood 227 65 North Adams 218 30 Indian Orchard 208 21 Nahant 205 7 Lynn 203 184 East Sandwich 201 7 Springfield 190 291 West Yarmouth 189 10 Adams 188 16 Braintree 187 67 Chelsea 184 65 Foxborough 183 31 Revere 177 92 West Warren 176 2 Pittsfield 172 77 Webster 166 28 Gardner 163 33 Quincy 159 147 Baldwinville 158 3 Whitinsville 158 11 Athol 155 18 Plainfield 154 1 Rockland 154 27 Mattapan 153 56 Bridgewater 150 40 Haverhill 149 91 Buzzards Bay 145 5 Hull 145 15 Osterville 142 5 Raynham 141 19 Taunton 141 79 Berlin 139 4 Everett 139 58 Roxbury 139 83 Ashland 138 23 Salem 133 55 Westborough 131 24 Chicopee 128 71 Milford 128 36 Granville 127 2 Leominster 127 52 Greenfield 126 22 Attleborough 123 54 Lowell 123 132 East Falmouth 121 7 Ware 121 12 Abington 118 19 Malden 117 70 Canton 115 25 Chilmark 115 1 Lawrence 115 88 Tewksbury 113 33 Mansfield 112 26 South Yarmouth 111 13 Woburn 110 42 Wellfleet 109 3 South Dennis 108 4 North Brookfield 106 5 Medford 105 59 Peabody 105 54 Saugus 105 28 Vineyard Haven 105 2 North Billerica 103 11 Pocasset 103 3 Spencer 102 12 Cambridge 101 107 Charlestown 101 17 East Boston 101 41 North Attleborough 97 28 Danvers 94 25 Dennis Port 94 3 Seekonk 94 13 Amesbury 92 15 Cheshire 92 3 Dorchester Center 92 85 Hyde Park 92 31 Avon 91 4 Maynard 89 9 Whitman 89 13 Brookfield 88 3 Nantucket 88 9 Winchendon 87 9 Gilbertville 86 1 Plainville 84 7 Weymouth 83 45 Blandford 81 1 West Brookfield 81 3 Auburn 80 13 Ayer 80 6 Cohasset 79 6 West Chatham 78 1 Millers Falls 77 1 Newton Center 77 3 Northborough 77 11 Hadley 76 4 West Stockbridge 76 1 Beverly 75 30 Chester 74 1 Jamaica Plain 74 28 Palmer 74 9 Clinton 73 10 East Wareham 73 16 Edgartown 73 3 Sharon 73 13 Wrentham 73 8 Roslindale 72 21 West Roxbury 72 22 Kingston 71 9 South Boston 71 24 Dudley 70 8 West Barnstable 70 2 Franklin 69 22 Lunenburg 69 7 Rowley 68 4 Westwood 68 10 Hopedale 67 4 South Grafton 67 3 Gloucester 65 19 Oxford 65 9 Mashpee 64 9 Somerville 64 49 Arlington 63 27 Fairhaven 63 10 Berkley 62 4 Brewster 61 6 East Freetown 61 3 Bedford 60 8 Eastham 60 3 Hopkinton 60 9 Millbury 60 8 Feeding Hills 59 7 Marshfield 59 15 Phillipston 59 1 West Springfield 59 17 Yarmouth Port 59 3 Warren 58 3 Andover 57 19 Ashfield 57 1 Harwich Port 57 1 Norton 57 11 Brighton 56 25 Lakeville 56 6 Erving 55 1 Holbrook 55 6 Belchertown 54 8 Sunderland 54 2 Wales 54 1 Waltham 54 33 Bondsville 53 1 Chelmsford 53 18 Tyngsborough 53 6 Dedham 52 13 East Weymouth 52 28 North Andover 52 15 West Boylston 52 4 Centerville 51 7 Lynnfield 51 6 Middleborough 51 12 Orange 51 4 Plymouth 51 29 Stockbridge 51 1 Williamstown 51 4 Winthrop 51 9 Millis 50 4 Ashburnham 49 3 Hinsdale 49 1 North Truro 49 1 Burlington 48 12 Methuen 48 23 South Easton 48 5 Turners Falls 48 2 Allston 47 14 Douglas 47 4 Merrimac 47 3 Shrewsbury 47 17 East Taunton 46 3 West Wareham 46 1 Westfield 46 19 Cherry Valley 45 5 East Brookfield 45 1 Forestdale 45 2 West Dennis 45 1 Northbridge 44 7 Great Barrington 42 3 Natick 42 14 South Weymouth 42 23 Shirley 41 3 Brookline 40 24 Hingham 40 9 Marion 40 2 Melrose 40 11 Halifax 39 3 Lenox 39 2 Upton 39 3 Charlton 38 5 Needham 38 11 Barre 37 2 Dracut 37 11 Ipswich 37 5 Rochdale (Leicester) 37 1 Walpole 37 9 Bellingham 36 6 Belmont 36 9 East Bridgewater 36 5 Georgetown 36 3 Wakefield 36 9 West Tisbury 36 1 Carver 34 4 South Hadley 34 6 Three Rivers 34 1 Blackstone 33 3 Hardwick 33 1 Littleton 33 3 Ludlow 33 7 Orleans 33 2 Provincetown 33 1 Sutton 33 3 Harwich 32 4 Wareham 32 7 Agawam 31 9 Easthampton 31 5 Hudson 31 6 Millville 31 1 Watertown 31 10 Boston 30 188 Cotuit 30 1 North Easton 30 4 Roxbury Crossing 30 18 Acushnet 29 3 Dalton 29 2 Holliston 29 4 North Hatfield 29 1 Princeton 29 1 Swampscott 29 4 Jefferson 28 1 Reading 28 7 Rockport 28 2 West Bridgewater 28 2 Sagamore 27 1 Sagamore Beach 27 1 Stoneham 27 6 Pepperell 26 3 South Dartmouth 26 9 Rutland 25 2 Swansea 25 4 Northampton 24 7 Salisbury 24 2 South Attleboro 24 2 West Newbury 23 1 Assonet 22 2 Grafton 22 4 Middleton 22 2 Oak Bluffs 22 1 Uxbridge 22 3 Auburndale 21 2 North Chelmsford 21 2 North Dartmouth 21 5 Wilbraham 21 3 Bolton 20 1 Marblehead 20 4 Marstons Mills 20 1 Billerica 19 8 Falmouth 19 6 Manchester 19 1 Newtonville 19 1 Norwell 19 2 Westport 19 3 Acton 18 4 Leicester 18 2 Onset 18 4 South Barre 18 1 Westford 18 4 Dover 17 1 Holden 17 3 Mendon 17 1 Newburyport 17 3 Chatham 16 1 Lee 16 1 Mattapoisett 16 1 Newton Upper Falls 16 1 South Lee 16 1 Medway 15 2 Dennis 14 2 Dighton 14 1 E. Boston 14 6 Hanover 14 2 Milton 14 4 Amherst 13 5 Duxbury 13 2 North Reading 13 2 Westminster 13 1 Wilmington 13 3 East Longmeadow 12 2 North Grafton 12 1 Templeton 12 1 Concord 11 2 Montague 11 1 Pembroke 11 2 Somerset 11 2 Sudbury 11 2 Townsend 11 1 Southborough 10 1 Southwick 10 1 Sturbridge 10 1 Wellesley Hills 10 3 Lexington 9 3 Rochdale 9 1 Sandwich 9 2 Groton 8 1 Medfield 8 1 Rehoboth 8 1 Weston 8 1 Bradford 7 1 Wayland 7 1 Longmeadow 6 1 Needham Heights 6 2 Bourne 5 1 Newton 5 5 Yarmouth 4 1 East Walpole 3 1 Newton Highlands 3 3 North Weymouth 3 2 Wellesley 3 1 E. Weymouth 1 1 North Quincy 1 1 (not given) 0 2528 span 0 7 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 1077 886 Plymouth 1077 465 Worcester 976 1087 Berkshire 879 142 Norfolk 874 745 Barnstable 854 165 Hampden 794 565 Essex 631 694 Suffolk 528 1044 Middlesex 491 1147 Franklin 322 34 Hampshire 304 56 Nantucket 256 9 Dukes 195 8 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/.