Filings Month Ending 2025 May 31

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2025-05-01 Search Period End: 2025-05-31 Earliest Case: 2025-05-01 Latest Case: 2025-05-30 Total Cases: 2865 Total Transfers: 89 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 23.6% Of those, percentage pro se: 55.6% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Drury Least stable with 10+ filings: Hyde Park Least stable with 100+ filings: Springfield Least stable county: Plymouth Cases per day: 95 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 590 20.6% northeast 519 18.1% central 405 14.1% western 369 12.9% southeast 323 11.3% metro_south 282 9.8% malden district 41 1.4% lynn district 32 1.1% lawrence district 25 0.9% quincy district 21 0.7% brockton district 19 0.7% cambridge district 18 0.6% chelsea district 16 0.6% fall river district 14 0.5% lowell district 14 0.5% bmc west roxbury 12 0.4% somerville district 11 0.4% springfield district 10 0.3% waltham district 10 0.3% framingham district 9 0.3% milford district 8 0.3% pittsfield district 8 0.3% attleboro district 7 0.2% haverhill district 7 0.2% ayer district 6 0.2% bmc east boston 6 0.2% northern berkshire district 6 0.2% barnstable district 5 0.2% peabody district 5 0.2% salem district 5 0.2% woburn district 5 0.2% newton district 4 0.1% worcester district 4 0.1% bmc brighton 3 0.1% bmc roxbury 3 0.1% clinton district 3 0.1% fallmouth district 3 0.1% gloucester district 3 0.1% newburyport district 3 0.1% orleans district 3 0.1% stoughton district 3 0.1% bmc dorchester 2 0.1% bmc south boston 2 0.1% dedham district 2 0.1% palmer district 2 0.1% westfield district 2 0.1% wrentham district 2 0.1% bmc central 1 0.0% bmc charlestown 1 0.0% chicopee district 1 0.0% concord district 1 0.0% eastern hampshire district 1 0.0% fitchburg district 1 0.0% gardner district court 1 0.0% hingham district 1 0.0% holyoke district 1 0.0% nantucket district 1 0.0% new bedford district 1 0.0% northampton district 1 0.0% taunton district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 2189 12 Natural Person 676 2853 Total 2865 2865 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 76.4% 0.4% Natural Person 23.6% 99.6% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 2153 36 2189 Optional 300 376 676 Total 2453 412 2865 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 75.1% 1.3% 76.4% Optional 10.5% 13.1% 23.6% Total 85.6% 14.4% 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 11 12 Optional 22 2831 2853 Total 23 2842 2865 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.4% 0.4% Optional 0.8% 98.8% 99.6% Total 0.8% 99.2% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 115 4.0% 1 1994 69.6% 2 625 21.8% 3 93 3.2% 4 25 0.9% 5 8 0.3% 6 3 0.1% 7 1 0.0% 10 1 0.0% Total 2865 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 1981 69.1% Cause 481 16.8% No Fault 368 12.8% Foreclosure 34 1.2% Unknown/Other 1 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Drury 606 1 West Hyannisport 555 1 New Ashford 438 1 Florence 421 4 Gilbertville 260 3 Thorndike 144 1 Harwich Port 115 2 Hyde Park 101 34 Provincetown 101 3 Roxbury 98 59 Fall River 97 87 Norwood 97 28 South Chatham 97 1 Lynn 96 87 Dennis Port 94 3 East Taunton 93 6 Easthampton 93 15 Dorchester 91 84 Bridgewater 90 24 Framingham 90 62 Gardner 88 18 West Warren 88 1 Lawrence 85 65 Randolph 84 27 Marlborough 83 32 Revere 83 43 Blandford 81 1 Malden 80 48 Springfield 79 122 Roslindale 76 22 West Yarmouth 75 4 Worcester 74 134 Turners Falls 73 3 Wellfleet 72 2 Lowell 71 76 Athol 69 8 Maynard 69 7 North Adams 65 9 Southbridge 65 11 Middleborough 64 15 New Bedford 64 61 Waltham 64 39 Brockton 63 60 Granville 63 1 Fitchburg 62 25 Salem 60 25 Dorchester Center 57 53 Milford 57 16 Hyannis 56 8 Shelburne Falls 56 1 Everett 55 23 Pittsfield 55 25 East Boston 54 22 South Dennis 54 2 Sunderland 54 2 Foxborough 53 9 Feeding Hills 51 6 North Eastham 51 1 Abington 50 8 Chelmsford 50 17 East Wareham 50 11 Taunton 50 28 Amesbury 49 8 Indian Orchard 49 5 Westborough 49 9 Chelsea 48 17 Hull 48 5 Plainville 48 4 Stoughton 48 13 Chestnut Hill 47 1 Webster 47 8 Quincy 46 43 East Brookfield 45 1 Greenfield 45 8 Huntington 45 1 Cambridge 43 46 Pepperell 43 5 Somerville 43 33 South Yarmouth 43 5 Jamaica Plain 42 16 North Brookfield 42 2 Peabody 42 22 North Attleborough 41 12 Eastham 40 2 Braintree 39 14 South Easton 39 4 Hadley 38 2 Mattapan 38 14 West Springfield 38 11 Allston 37 11 North Billerica 37 4 North Falmouth 37 1 Haverhill 36 22 Charlestown 35 6 Berlin 34 1 Brighton 34 15 East Falmouth 34 2 South Hadley 34 6 Three Rivers 34 1 Woburn 34 13 Hopedale 33 2 Lee 33 2 Littleton 33 3 Natick 33 11 Canton 32 7 Harwich 32 4 Holyoke 32 13 Hudson 31 6 Tewksbury 31 9 Attleborough 29 13 Buzzards Bay 29 1 Clinton 29 4 Nahant 29 1 Burlington 28 7 Dedham 28 7 Great Barrington 28 2 Northborough 28 4 Rockland 28 5 Wakefield 28 7 Whitinsville 28 2 Billerica 27 11 Chicopee 27 15 Dracut 27 8 Gloucester 27 8 Holbrook 27 3 Leicester 27 3 Sagamore 27 1 West Brookfield 27 1 Wrentham 27 3 Cohasset 26 2 Hopkinton 26 4 Norfolk 26 3 South Boston 26 9 Fairhaven 25 4 Millis 25 2 North Grafton 25 2 Orange 25 2 Spencer 25 3 Auburn 24 4 Bellingham 24 4 East Weymouth 24 13 Northampton 24 7 Palmer 24 3 Weymouth 24 13 Adams 23 2 Kingston 23 3 Medway 23 3 Franklin 22 7 Ipswich 22 3 Leominster 22 9 Millbury 22 3 Shrewsbury 22 8 South Grafton 22 1 Agawam 21 6 Auburndale 21 2 Mashpee 21 3 Methuen 21 10 Norton 21 4 Swampscott 21 3 Watertown 21 7 Beverly 20 8 Boxborough 20 1 Brewster 20 2 Carlisle 20 1 Ware 20 2 Hampden 19 1 Lunenburg 19 2 Newtonville 19 1 Sandwich 19 4 Warren 19 1 West Roxbury 19 6 Westfield 19 8 Ashland 18 3 Barre 18 1 Danvers 18 5 Milton 18 5 Roxbury Crossing 18 11 Saugus 18 5 Carver 17 2 Dover 17 1 East Orleans 17 1 Holden 17 3 Rehoboth 17 2 Rowley 17 1 Wilmington 17 4 Winthrop 17 3 Belmont 16 4 Mattapoisett 16 1 Walpole 16 4 Bedford 15 2 Groveland 15 1 Lincoln 15 1 North Easton 15 2 Stow 15 1 Hanover 14 2 Raynham 14 2 Ayer 13 1 Hingham 13 3 North Reading 13 2 Wareham 13 3 Westford 13 3 Boston 12 77 E. Boston 12 5 East Longmeadow 12 2 Lexington 12 4 Medford 12 7 Reading 12 3 Rutland 12 1 Williamstown 12 1 Arlington 11 5 Assonet 11 1 Brookline 11 7 Melrose 11 3 Monson 11 1 Sharon 11 2 Sudbury 11 2 Amherst 10 4 Bourne 10 2 Needham Heights 10 3 North Andover 10 3 Southborough 10 1 Lakeville 9 1 Onset 9 2 Stoneham 9 2 Winchendon 9 1 Winchester 9 2 Dudley 8 1 Groton 8 1 Lynnfield 8 1 Medfield 8 1 Tyngsborough 8 1 Bradford 7 1 Centerville 7 1 Holliston 7 1 Marshfield 7 2 Oxford 7 1 Plymouth 7 4 Seekonk 7 1 South Weymouth 7 4 Uxbridge 7 1 Wayland 7 1 Wilbraham 7 1 Andover 6 2 Duxbury 6 1 Falmouth 6 2 Swansea 6 1 Concord 5 1 Pembroke 5 1 Scituate 5 1 Somerset 5 1 South Dartmouth 5 2 Acton 4 1 Newton 4 4 North Dartmouth 4 1 Newton Highlands 3 3 North Weymouth 3 2 Wellesley Hills 3 1 Barnstable 2 1 Newton Lower Falls 2 2 (not given) 0 255 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 356 154 Barnstable 305 59 Bristol 282 232 Hampden 278 198 Norfolk 276 236 Berkshire 266 43 Worcester 265 296 Suffolk 256 507 Essex 255 281 Middlesex 234 547 Hampshire 222 41 Franklin 151 16 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/.