Filings Month Ending 2026 January 31

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2026-01-01 Search Period End: 2026-01-31 Earliest Case: 2026-01-01 Latest Case: 2026-01-30 Total Cases: 2826 Total Transfers: 51 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 20.2% Of those, percentage pro se: 56.5% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Florence Least stable with 10+ filings: Hyannis Least stable with 100+ filings: New Bedford Least stable county: Hampden Cases per day: 94 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 531 18.8% northeast 520 18.4% central 402 14.2% southeast 354 12.5% western 344 12.2% metro_south 269 9.5% brockton district 46 1.6% lynn district 40 1.4% lawrence district 31 1.1% cambridge district 30 1.1% malden district 27 1.0% pittsfield district 18 0.6% fall river district 16 0.6% haverhill district 16 0.6% quincy district 15 0.5% lowell district 13 0.5% waltham district 13 0.5% bmc east boston 11 0.4% chicopee district 10 0.4% northern berkshire district 9 0.3% salem district 8 0.3% bmc dorchester 7 0.2% peabody district 7 0.2% bmc central 6 0.2% springfield district 6 0.2% bmc west roxbury 5 0.2% chelsea district 5 0.2% eastern hampshire district 5 0.2% framingham district 5 0.2% woburn district 5 0.2% dedham district 4 0.1% newton district 4 0.1% ayer district 3 0.1% bmc roxbury 3 0.1% concord district 3 0.1% milford district 3 0.1% somerville district 3 0.1% attleboro district 2 0.1% barnstable district 2 0.1% bmc brighton 2 0.1% new bedford district 2 0.1% orleans district 2 0.1% southern berkshire district 2 0.1% taunton district 2 0.1% worcester district 2 0.1% wrentham district 2 0.1% fallmouth district 1 0.0% fitchburg district 1 0.0% gloucester district 1 0.0% greenfield district 1 0.0% hingham district 1 0.0% holyoke district 1 0.0% leominster district 1 0.0% newburyport district 1 0.0% plymouth district 1 0.0% westborough district 1 0.0% westfield district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 2256 2 Natural Person 570 2824 Total 2826 2826 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 79.8% 0.1% Natural Person 20.2% 99.9% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 2238 18 2256 Optional 248 322 570 Total 2486 340 2826 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 79.2% 0.6% 79.8% Optional 8.8% 11.4% 20.2% Total 88.0% 12.0% 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 2 2 Optional 13 2811 2824 Total 13 2813 2826 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% Optional 0.5% 99.5% 99.9% Total 0.5% 99.5% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 69 2.4% 1 1958 69.3% 2 634 22.4% 3 132 4.7% 4 27 1.0% 5 4 0.1% 7 2 0.1% Total 2826 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 2201 77.9% Cause 383 13.6% No Fault 224 7.9% Foreclosure 16 0.6% Unknown/Other 2 0.1% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Florence 316 3 Hyannis 127 18 Norwood 118 34 New Bedford 116 111 Holyoke 107 43 Haverhill 101 62 Mattapan 98 36 Chestnut Hill 94 2 Dorchester 92 85 Maynard 89 9 Springfield 89 137 East Boston 88 36 Brockton 87 82 Westborough 87 16 East Sandwich 86 3 Lawrence 86 66 Feeding Hills 85 10 Malden 85 51 Fall River 83 74 Sunderland 81 3 Randolph 80 26 Gardner 79 16 Charlemont 78 1 Worcester 78 142 Athol 77 9 Roxbury 77 46 Everett 76 32 Fitchburg 76 31 Framingham 76 52 Lowell 74 79 North Adams 72 10 Salisbury 72 6 Saugus 71 19 Chelsea 68 24 Salem 65 27 Woburn 65 25 Canton 64 14 Dennis Port 63 2 Chicopee 61 34 Lenox 59 3 Newtonville 57 3 Taunton 57 32 Becket 56 1 Lynn 55 50 Baldwinville 52 1 Revere 52 27 Waltham 52 32 North Eastham 51 1 Spencer 51 6 Stockbridge 51 1 Westfield 51 21 Jamaica Plain 50 19 Pittsfield 49 22 Quincy 48 45 Foxborough 47 8 Lakeville 47 5 Marlborough 46 18 Bridgewater 45 12 West Springfield 45 13 Allston 44 13 Clinton 44 6 Raynham 44 6 Cambridge 43 46 Dudley 43 5 Whitinsville 43 3 Bellingham 42 7 Webster 41 7 Whitman 41 6 Stoughton 40 11 Williamsburg 40 1 Dorchester Center 39 36 Indian Orchard 39 4 Milford 39 11 Charlton 38 5 Winchendon 38 4 Peabody 37 19 West Yarmouth 37 2 Leicester 36 4 Adams 35 3 Beverly 35 14 Charlestown 35 6 Mashpee 35 5 Plympton 35 1 Franklin 34 11 North Attleborough 34 10 Grafton 33 6 Hardwick 33 1 Provincetown 33 1 Ashby 32 1 Chelmsford 32 11 Acton 31 7 Medway 31 4 Northbridge 31 5 Brewster 30 3 Ware 30 3 Dalton 29 2 Hull 29 3 Lunenburg 29 3 Nahant 29 1 North Dartmouth 29 7 Southbridge 29 5 Greenfield 28 5 Newburyport 28 5 North Billerica 28 3 Sharon 28 5 South Hadley 28 5 Braintree 27 10 Brighton 27 12 E. Boston 27 11 Sagamore Beach 27 1 Somerville 27 21 Stoneham 27 6 Norton 26 5 South Boston 26 9 Tyngsborough 26 3 Attleborough 25 11 Rutland 25 2 Watertown 25 8 Amesbury 24 4 Auburn 24 4 Burlington 24 6 Georgetown 24 2 Gloucester 24 7 Natick 24 8 North Andover 24 7 Plainville 24 2 Plymouth 24 14 Douglas 23 2 Hyde Park 23 8 East Weymouth 22 12 Forestdale 22 1 Leominster 22 9 Lexington 22 7 South Grafton 22 1 Sudbury 22 4 Sutton 22 2 Hanover 21 3 Northampton 21 6 Northborough 21 3 Swampscott 21 3 Bourne 20 4 Boxborough 20 1 Hopkinton 20 3 Marstons Mills 20 1 Needham Heights 20 6 Tewksbury 20 6 Yarmouth Port 19 1 Abington 18 3 Barre 18 1 East Wareham 18 4 Mendon 17 1 Roslindale 17 5 Rowley 17 1 South Yarmouth 17 2 Belmont 16 4 Chatham 16 1 Harwich 16 2 Hopedale 16 1 Lee 16 1 Methuen 16 8 Orleans 16 1 Somerset 16 3 South Weymouth 16 9 Berkley 15 1 Danvers 15 4 East Taunton 15 1 Kingston 15 2 Marshfield 15 4 North Easton 15 2 Arlington 14 6 Centerville 14 2 East Bridgewater 14 2 Melrose 14 4 Uxbridge 14 2 Ayer 13 1 Dracut 13 4 Duxbury 13 2 Halifax 13 1 Hingham 13 3 Onset 13 3 Upton 13 1 Westwood 13 2 Andover 12 4 Ashland 12 2 Dedham 12 3 Lancaster 12 1 Mansfield 12 3 Middleborough 12 3 Millis 12 1 North Grafton 12 1 Wakefield 12 3 Boston 11 72 Littleton 11 1 Townsend 11 1 Agawam 10 3 Auburndale 10 1 Hudson 10 2 Southwick 10 1 Cherry Valley 9 1 Hanson 9 1 Holbrook 9 1 South Easton 9 1 Wareham 9 2 Westford 9 2 Weymouth 9 5 Medfield 8 1 Palmer 8 1 Pepperell 8 1 Reading 8 2 Walpole 8 2 West Harwich 8 1 Bedford 7 1 Billerica 7 3 Bradford 7 1 Holliston 7 1 Ipswich 7 1 Millbury 7 1 Milton 7 2 Oxford 7 1 Wayland 7 1 Belchertown 6 1 Easthampton 6 1 Fairhaven 6 1 North Reading 6 1 West Roxbury 6 2 Amherst 5 2 Holden 5 1 Marblehead 5 1 Pembroke 5 1 Rockland 5 1 Roxbury Crossing 5 3 Scituate 5 1 Winchester 4 1 Brookline 3 2 Falmouth 3 1 Needham 3 1 North Weymouth 3 2 Wellesley Hills 3 1 Barnstable 2 1 Newton 2 2 South Dartmouth 2 1 Medford 1 1 (not given) 0 199 span 0 5 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 375 267 Plymouth 368 159 Bristol 327 269 Worcester 288 321 Essex 283 312 Barnstable 279 54 Norfolk 268 229 Berkshire 266 43 Suffolk 227 450 Middlesex 208 487 Hampshire 119 22 Franklin 85 9 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/.