Filings Quarter Ending 2023 September 30

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2023-07-01 Search Period End: 2023-09-30 Earliest Case: 2023-07-03 Latest Case: 2023-09-29 Total Cases: 9663 Total Transfers: 224 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 25.4% Of those, percentage pro se: 56.1% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Florence Least stable with 10+ filings: Chestnut Hill Least stable with 100+ filings: Fall River Least stable county: Hampden 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 northeast 1660 17.2% eastern 1656 17.1% western 1542 16.0% central 1452 15.0% southeast 1070 11.1% metro_south 873 9.0% malden district 109 1.1% lynn district 107 1.1% brockton district 92 1.0% quincy district 84 0.9% fall river district 82 0.8% lowell district 64 0.7% lawrence district 62 0.6% pittsfield district 51 0.5% chelsea district 48 0.5% waltham district 41 0.4% haverhill district 39 0.4% somerville district 39 0.4% framingham district 38 0.4% woburn district 38 0.4% cambridge district 37 0.4% salem district 32 0.3% attleboro district 30 0.3% dedham district 30 0.3% bmc east boston 27 0.3% new bedford district 27 0.3% northern berkshire district 27 0.3% barnstable district 24 0.2% bmc west roxbury 23 0.2% springfield district 16 0.2% wrentham district 16 0.2% bmc dorchester 14 0.1% hingham district 14 0.1% stoughton district 13 0.1% bmc brighton 11 0.1% bmc central 11 0.1% chicopee district 11 0.1% fallmouth district 11 0.1% peabody district 10 0.1% edgartown district 9 0.1% taunton district 9 0.1% westfield district 9 0.1% concord district 8 0.1% wareham district 8 0.1% ayer district 7 0.1% orleans district 7 0.1% milford district 6 0.1% palmer district 6 0.1% bmc roxbury 5 0.1% natick district 5 0.1% newton district 5 0.1% southern berkshire district 5 0.1% fitchburg district 4 0.0% gloucester district 4 0.0% holyoke district 4 0.0% nantucket district 4 0.0% plymouth district 4 0.0% worcester district 4 0.0% clinton district 3 0.0% eastern hampshire district 3 0.0% newburyport district 3 0.0% brookline district 2 0.0% greenfield district 2 0.0% uxbridge district 2 0.0% bmc south boston 1 0.0% leominster district 1 0.0% northampton district 1 0.0% orange district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 7210 64 Natural Person 2453 9599 Total 9663 9663 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 74.6% 0.7% Natural Person 25.4% 99.3% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 7082 128 7210 Optional 1077 1376 2453 Total 8159 1504 9663 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 73.3% 1.3% 74.6% Optional 11.1% 14.2% 25.4% Total 84.4% 15.6% 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 2 62 64 Optional 78 9521 9599 Total 80 9583 9663 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.6% 0.7% Optional 0.8% 98.5% 99.3% Total 0.8% 99.2% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 361 3.7% 1 7042 72.9% 2 1810 18.7% 3 323 3.3% 4 88 0.9% 5 21 0.2% 6 13 0.1% 7 3 0.0% 9 1 0.0% 10 1 0.0% Total 9663 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 6818 70.6% Cause 1501 15.5% No Fault 1265 13.1% Foreclosure 78 0.8% Unknown/Other 1 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Florence 738 7 Chestnut Hill 518 11 Turners Falls 463 19 Fall River 373 332 Southbridge 352 59 Springfield 326 500 Gardner 321 65 Holyoke 318 127 New Bedford 313 298 Dorchester 308 284 Worcester 298 540 Lowell 291 311 Randolph 286 92 Brockton 278 261 Framingham 269 184 Marlborough 264 102 Fitchburg 262 106 Lynn 262 237 Indian Orchard 248 25 Norwood 248 71 Chelsea 235 83 Hyannis 234 33 Athol 233 27 Chicopee 231 128 Pittsfield 227 102 Revere 227 118 Mattapan 222 81 Roxbury 216 129 Sheffield 214 7 Berlin 209 6 Stoughton 207 56 Southfield 202 1 Lawrence 196 150 Malden 196 117 North Adams 196 27 Hyde Park 194 65 South Dennis 190 7 Danvers 184 49 Salem 183 76 Rockland 177 31 Bridgewater 176 47 Westborough 175 32 Leominster 174 71 Gilbertville 173 2 East Falmouth 172 10 Everett 172 72 Newtonville 172 9 Webster 172 29 Greenfield 171 30 North Brookfield 170 8 Three Rivers 170 5 Dorchester Center 164 151 Quincy 163 151 Ayer 161 12 Haverhill 159 97 Taunton 159 89 Dennis Port 158 5 Vineyard Haven 158 3 South Easton 156 16 Orange 153 12 East Boston 150 61 Hanson 146 15 Woburn 141 54 West Springfield 140 40 Hull 136 14 Allston 133 39 Lakeville 132 14 West Yarmouth 132 7 Adams 129 11 Canton 129 28 Maynard 128 13 Northborough 127 18 Peabody 126 65 Watertown 125 40 Roslindale 124 36 Cheshire 123 4 Jamaica Plain 122 46 Wendell 117 1 Cambridge 116 122 Chilmark 115 1 Norton 115 22 Middleborough 112 26 Saugus 112 30 South Yarmouth 111 13 Spencer 111 13 Attleborough 110 48 Oak Bluffs 110 5 Westwood 109 16 Beverly 108 43 Plainville 108 9 Sunderland 108 4 Braintree 106 38 West Barnstable 106 3 Baldwinville 105 2 North Billerica 103 11 Provincetown 101 3 Eastham 100 5 Wayland 100 13 Warren 97 5 Weymouth 96 52 Douglas 94 8 Feeding Hills 94 11 Abington 93 15 Cohasset 92 7 Milford 92 26 Bellingham 91 15 Ware 91 9 Westfield 90 37 Williamstown 90 7 Hudson 89 17 South Boston 89 30 South Grafton 89 4 Franklin 88 28 West Warren 88 1 Buzzards Bay 87 3 Nahant 87 3 Oxford 87 12 Waltham 87 53 Winchendon 87 9 Tewksbury 86 25 Osterville 85 3 Charlton 84 11 Dedham 84 21 Charlestown 83 14 Methuen 82 39 Palmer 82 10 Sagamore Beach 82 3 Wrentham 82 9 Chesterfield 81 1 Melrose 81 22 West Brookfield 81 3 Boxborough 80 4 Winthrop 80 14 Kingston 79 10 Royalston 79 1 Roxbury Crossing 78 47 West Chatham 78 1 Acton 77 17 Holbrook 74 8 Medford 74 42 Clinton 73 10 East Wareham 73 16 Edgartown 73 3 Whitinsville 72 5 Foxborough 71 12 Rockport 71 5 Somerville 71 54 Plympton 70 2 Avon 68 3 Brighton 68 30 Easthampton 68 11 South Hadley 68 12 Richmond 67 1 North Attleborough 66 19 Auburndale 65 6 Chelmsford 65 22 East Weymouth 65 35 Fiskdale 64 2 Hanover 64 9 Southwick 63 6 East Taunton 62 4 Sharon 62 11 Dudley 61 7 South Lancaster 61 1 Tyngsborough 61 7 Bedford 60 8 Brookline 59 35 Colrain 59 1 Gloucester 59 17 Wareham 59 13 Brookfield 58 2 Clarksburg 58 1 Medfield 58 7 Seekonk 58 8 Swampscott 58 8 Walpole 58 14 Harwich Port 57 1 Great Barrington 56 4 North Andover 56 16 Plymouth 56 32 Shelburne Falls 56 1 Amesbury 55 9 Erving 55 1 West Roxbury 55 17 Leverett 54 1 Medway 54 7 North Chelmsford 54 5 Uxbridge 52 7 Natick 51 17 Stockbridge 51 1 Fairhaven 50 8 Orleans 50 3 Shrewsbury 50 18 Hinsdale 49 1 Lunenburg 49 5 Nantucket 49 5 Truro 49 1 Salisbury 48 4 South Deerfield 48 1 South Weymouth 48 26 Whitman 48 7 Bernardston 46 1 West Wareham 46 1 Billerica 44 18 Burlington 44 11 Dracut 44 13 E. Boston 44 18 Littleton 44 4 Raynham 44 6 Wakefield 44 11 Auburn 43 7 Boston 43 266 Pepperell 43 5 Rehoboth 43 5 Sturbridge 43 4 Mashpee 42 6 Falmouth 41 13 Lexington 41 13 Westford 41 9 Brewster 40 4 Holland 40 1 Marion 40 2 Milton 40 11 Andover 39 13 Arlington 39 17 Acushnet 38 4 Agawam 38 11 Hadley 38 2 Manchester 38 2 Mansfield 38 9 Northampton 38 11 Westport 38 6 Ludlow 37 8 Swansea 37 6 Ashland 36 6 West Tisbury 36 1 Byfield 35 1 Wilmington 35 8 Pocasset 34 1 Hardwick 33 1 North Dartmouth 33 8 Granby 32 2 Northfield 32 1 Onset 32 7 Stoneham 32 7 Dunstable 31 1 Cotuit 30 1 Groveland 30 2 Millbury 30 4 Centerville 29 4 Hatfield 29 1 Dighton 28 2 Jefferson 28 1 Pembroke 28 5 Belchertown 27 4 Cherry Valley 27 3 Hingham 27 6 Leicester 27 3 Sagamore 27 1 Westminster 27 2 Carver 26 3 Duxbury 26 4 Halifax 26 2 Newton Centre 26 1 East Longmeadow 25 4 Lynnfield 25 3 Marblehead 25 5 Millis 25 2 Northbridge 25 4 Belmont 24 6 Harwich 24 3 Needham 24 7 Blackstone 22 2 Boylston 22 1 Forestdale 22 1 Holliston 22 3 Hubbardston 22 1 Ipswich 22 3 Amherst 21 8 Wilbraham 21 3 North Reading 20 3 Paxton 20 1 Lenox 19 1 Marshfield 19 5 Rochester 19 1 Yarmouth Port 19 1 Barre 18 1 Rochdale 18 2 South Barre 18 1 Dover 17 1 Holden 17 3 Norfolk 17 2 Southampton 17 1 Weston 17 2 Ashburnham 16 1 Chatham 16 1 Hopedale 16 1 Mattapoisett 16 1 Reading 16 4 Somerset 16 3 Sudbury 16 3 Wellesley Hills 16 5 Berkley 15 1 Merrimac 15 1 North Easton 15 2 Stow 15 1 Dalton 14 1 Sandwich 14 3 South Dartmouth 14 5 West Bridgewater 14 1 Shirley 13 1 West Boylston 13 1 Georgetown 12 1 North Grafton 12 1 Rutland 12 1 South Attleboro 12 1 South Hamilton 12 1 Waban 12 1 Grafton 11 2 Monson 11 1 Sutton 11 1 Southborough 10 1 Norwell 9 1 West Newton 7 1 Hopkinton 6 1 Needham Heights 6 2 Bourne 5 1 Concord 5 1 Newburyport 5 1 Scituate 5 1 Winchester 4 1 South Walpole 3 1 Wellesley 3 1 Newton 2 2 North Weymouth 1 1 West Medford 1 1 (not given) 0 927 Boston College 0 1 span 0 9 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 Hampden 1289 917 Plymouth 1278 552 Bristol 1096 902 Berkshire 1047 169 Worcester 1046 1165 Norfolk 933 796 Essex 801 881 Suffolk 774 1530 Barnstable 730 141 Franklin 692 73 Middlesex 648 1514 Hampshire 374 69 Dukes 316 13 Nantucket 142 5 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/.