Filings Quarter Ending 2025 March 31

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2025-01-01 Search Period End: 2025-03-31 Earliest Case: 2025-01-02 Latest Case: 2025-03-31 Total Cases: 9705 Total Transfers: 192 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 21.1% Of those, percentage pro se: 53.5% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Florence Least stable with 10+ filings: Florence Least stable with 100+ filings: Dorchester Least stable county: Hampden Cases per day: 109 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 1998 20.6% northeast 1728 17.8% central 1386 14.3% western 1263 13.0% southeast 1149 11.8% metro_south 901 9.3% lynn district 106 1.1% malden district 105 1.1% quincy district 93 1.0% lawrence district 86 0.9% brockton district 57 0.6% chelsea district 57 0.6% cambridge district 52 0.5% fall river district 46 0.5% bmc west roxbury 43 0.4% waltham district 41 0.4% northern berkshire district 38 0.4% lowell district 37 0.4% haverhill district 35 0.4% pittsfield district 34 0.4% somerville district 32 0.3% springfield district 28 0.3% woburn district 27 0.3% attleboro district 26 0.3% bmc brighton 24 0.2% bmc dorchester 21 0.2% framingham district 20 0.2% salem district 20 0.2% worcester district 19 0.2% bmc east boston 15 0.2% peabody district 14 0.1% dedham district 12 0.1% fallmouth district 11 0.1% newburyport district 11 0.1% newton district 11 0.1% plymouth district 11 0.1% barnstable district 10 0.1% holyoke district 10 0.1% milford district 10 0.1% ayer district 9 0.1% bmc roxbury 9 0.1% bmc central 8 0.1% wareham district 8 0.1% westfield district 8 0.1% wrentham district 7 0.1% fitchburg district 6 0.1% new bedford district 6 0.1% edgartown district 5 0.1% orleans district 5 0.1% palmer district 5 0.1% chicopee district 4 0.0% hingham district 4 0.0% northampton district 4 0.0% taunton district 4 0.0% nantucket district 3 0.0% stoughton district 3 0.0% bmc south boston 2 0.0% brookline district 2 0.0% clinton district 2 0.0% concord district 2 0.0% eastern hampshire district 2 0.0% gloucester district 2 0.0% greenfield district 2 0.0% natick district 2 0.0% southern berkshire district 2 0.0% orange district 1 0.0% uxbridge district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 7655 21 Natural Person 2050 9684 Total 9705 9705 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 78.9% 0.2% Natural Person 21.1% 99.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 7562 93 7655 Optional 953 1097 2050 Total 8515 1190 9705 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 77.9% 1.0% 78.9% Optional 9.8% 11.3% 21.1% Total 87.7% 12.3% 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 21 21 Optional 58 9626 9684 Total 58 9647 9705 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.2% 0.2% Optional 0.6% 99.2% 99.8% Total 0.6% 99.4% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 293 3.0% 1 6749 69.5% 2 2165 22.3% 3 340 3.5% 4 100 1.0% 5 33 0.3% 6 8 0.1% 7 8 0.1% 8 5 0.1% 9 1 0.0% 10 1 0.0% 13 1 0.0% 16 1 0.0% Total 9705 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 7204 74.2% Cause 1339 13.8% No Fault 1089 11.2% Foreclosure 69 0.7% Unknown/Other 4 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Florence 1687 16 Chestnut Hill 847 18 Southbridge 406 68 Dorchester 385 355 Holyoke 383 153 Norwood 377 108 Fall River 354 315 North Adams 335 46 Sunderland 325 12 Springfield 324 497 Berlin 314 9 Millers Falls 311 4 Roxbury 308 184 Lowell 297 317 Lynn 296 268 Thorndike 289 2 Salem 287 119 Framingham 286 196 Heath 283 2 Lawrence 280 214 Hyannis 276 39 Greenfield 274 48 Fitchburg 272 110 New Bedford 272 259 Worcester 271 491 Chelsea 270 95 West Warren 264 3 Mattapan 263 96 Gardner 262 53 Rowe 254 1 Everett 251 105 Hyde Park 242 81 Brockton 239 225 Buzzards Bay 233 8 Randolph 233 75 Charlestown 227 38 Malden 227 135 Revere 227 118 Marlborough 225 87 Ware 222 22 South Dennis 217 8 Warren 214 11 Roslindale 211 61 Monterey 208 2 Chicopee 202 112 Indian Orchard 198 20 West Springfield 197 56 Westborough 197 36 Pittsfield 192 86 Stoughton 185 50 Athol 181 21 Bridgewater 180 48 Rockland 177 31 Gilbertville 173 2 East Falmouth 172 10 Quincy 170 157 East Boston 167 68 Cambridge 166 175 Dorchester Center 166 153 Erving 166 3 Blandford 162 2 Canton 162 35 Mansfield 159 37 Vineyard Haven 158 3 Charlemont 157 2 Haverhill 154 94 Taunton 152 85 Allston 150 44 Milford 150 42 Attleborough 149 65 Burlington 146 36 Whitinsville 144 10 Middleborough 142 33 Waltham 140 85 Abington 137 22 Jamaica Plain 136 51 Watertown 134 43 Housatonic 132 1 Dennis Port 126 4 Peabody 126 65 Leominster 125 51 Webster 125 21 South Lancaster 122 2 Plainville 121 10 Holbrook 120 13 Raynham 119 16 Beverly 118 47 Wrentham 118 13 Adams 117 10 Clarksburg 117 2 South Easton 117 12 Wendell 117 1 Weymouth 117 63 Brighton 116 51 Saugus 116 31 Chilmark 115 1 Woburn 115 44 Andover 114 38 North Billerica 112 12 South Grafton 111 5 Braintree 109 39 Dracut 108 32 South Hadley 108 19 Somerville 105 80 Carver 104 12 Tewksbury 103 30 Whitman 103 15 Foxborough 100 17 South Boston 100 34 Fiskdale 97 3 Hull 97 10 Manchester 97 5 Roxbury Crossing 97 58 Tyngsborough 97 11 Clinton 95 13 West Yarmouth 94 5 West Wareham 92 2 Avon 91 4 Billerica 91 37 West Dennis 91 2 Danvers 90 24 North Attleborough 90 26 Bradford 89 12 Maynard 89 9 Franklin 88 28 Oak Bluffs 88 4 Westford 86 19 Feeding Hills 85 10 North Brookfield 85 4 Lee 84 5 East Wareham 82 18 Monson 81 7 Kingston 79 10 Methuen 78 37 Spencer 77 9 Plymouth 76 43 Hopkinton 73 11 Hudson 73 14 Salisbury 72 6 South Egremont 72 1 Rockport 71 5 Great Barrington 70 5 Medway 70 9 Westfield 70 29 Lunenburg 69 7 Shirley 69 5 Stoneham 69 15 Three Rivers 68 2 Ayer 67 5 Hopedale 67 4 Marshfield 67 17 Orleans 67 4 Provincetown 67 2 Richmond 67 1 Agawam 66 19 Mattapoisett 66 4 New Marlborough 66 1 Medford 65 37 Seekonk 65 9 Wareham 64 14 Millis 63 5 West Roxbury 62 19 Amesbury 61 10 Brewster 61 6 Cheshire 61 2 North Easton 61 8 Bedford 60 8 Millbury 60 8 South Yarmouth 60 7 Colrain 59 1 East Weymouth 59 32 Gloucester 59 17 Brookfield 58 2 Nahant 58 2 Swampscott 58 8 East Sandwich 57 2 Hanover 57 8 Newburyport 57 10 Newtonville 57 3 Norton 57 11 Becket 56 1 Belmont 56 14 Fairhaven 56 9 Northampton 56 16 Shelburne Falls 56 1 Bellingham 55 9 Brimfield 55 2 Sagamore Beach 55 2 Acton 54 12 Ashland 54 9 Cohasset 53 4 North Reading 53 8 Dudley 52 6 Arlington 51 22 Melrose 51 14 Orange 51 4 Stockbridge 51 1 Boston 50 309 Shrewsbury 50 18 Edgartown 49 2 Northborough 49 7 Douglas 47 4 Ludlow 47 10 Merrimac 47 3 West Townsend 47 1 East Taunton 46 3 Hubbardston 45 2 Natick 45 15 North Andover 45 13 Blackstone 44 4 Dalton 44 3 Northbridge 44 7 Swansea 44 7 Belchertown 40 6 Boxborough 40 2 Eastham 40 2 Holland 40 1 Winthrop 40 7 Lenox 39 2 Pembroke 39 7 Yarmouth Port 39 2 Chelmsford 38 13 Needham 38 11 Winchendon 38 4 Easthampton 37 6 Milton 37 10 North Falmouth 37 1 Rutland 37 3 Templeton 37 3 Uxbridge 37 5 Dedham 36 9 Mashpee 35 5 West Barnstable 35 1 Pocasset 34 1 Assonet 33 3 Duxbury 33 5 Littleton 33 3 Scituate 33 6 South Weymouth 33 18 Auburndale 32 3 E. Boston 32 13 Palmer 32 4 Amherst 31 12 Berkley 31 2 Dunstable 31 1 Millville 31 1 Wilmington 31 7 Auburn 30 5 Charlton 30 4 Cotuit 30 1 Sheffield 30 1 Wayland 30 4 Acushnet 29 3 Hanson 29 3 Nantucket 29 3 Oxford 29 4 Princeton 29 1 West Hatfield 29 1 Lakeville 28 3 Wakefield 28 7 Hingham 27 6 Bourne 25 5 Newton Center 25 1 North Grafton 25 2 South Hamilton 25 2 Sterling 25 2 Williamstown 25 2 Medfield 24 3 South Attleboro 24 2 Montague 23 2 West Newbury 23 1 Boylston 22 1 Middleton 22 2 Sharon 22 4 Sutton 22 2 North Chelmsford 21 2 Southwick 21 2 Sturbridge 21 2 Bolton 20 1 Carlisle 20 1 East Freetown 20 1 Marion 20 1 Marstons Mills 20 1 Southborough 20 2 Hadley 19 1 Lexington 19 6 Longmeadow 19 3 Norwell 19 2 Westport 19 3 Rochdale 18 2 Brookline 17 10 Groton 17 2 Holden 17 3 Lynnfield 17 2 Pepperell 17 2 Rowley 17 1 Ashburnham 16 1 Chatham 16 1 Concord 16 3 Harwich 16 2 Reading 16 4 Walpole 16 4 Groveland 15 1 Centerville 14 2 Dighton 14 1 Holliston 14 2 North Uxbridge 14 2 West Bridgewater 14 1 West Newton 14 2 Halifax 13 1 Needham Heights 13 4 Westwood 13 2 North Dartmouth 12 3 South Dartmouth 11 4 Sudbury 11 2 Fayville 10 1 Marblehead 10 2 North Weymouth 10 6 Wellesley Hills 10 3 Cherry Valley 9 1 Falmouth 9 3 Leicester 9 1 Sandwich 9 2 Norfolk 8 1 West Harwich 8 1 Weston 8 1 East Bridgewater 7 1 Ipswich 7 1 Wellesley 7 2 Wilbraham 7 1 Grafton 5 1 Somerset 5 1 Newton 4 4 Onset 4 1 Winchester 4 1 East Walpole 3 1 Dartmouth 2 1 Newton Lower Falls 2 2 Newton Highlands 1 1 (not given) 0 367 span 0 16 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 1311 932 Plymouth 1271 549 Bristol 1077 886 Berkshire 1065 172 Worcester 976 1087 Essex 946 1040 Suffolk 929 1835 Norfolk 911 777 Franklin 768 81 Middlesex 738 1722 Barnstable 668 129 Hampshire 537 99 Dukes 243 10 Nantucket 85 3 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/.