Filings Month Ending 2026 August 31

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2026-08-01 Search Period End: 2026-08-31 Earliest Case: 2026-08-03 Latest Case: 2026-08-31 Total Cases: 3487 Total Transfers: 52 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 22.1% Of those, percentage pro se: 53.2% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Florence Least stable with 10+ filings: Southbridge Least stable with 100+ filings: Dorchester Least stable county: Worcester Cases per day: 116 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 754 21.6% northeast 624 17.9% central 530 15.2% western 468 13.4% southeast 410 11.8% metro_south 315 9.0% malden district 34 1.0% lawrence district 33 0.9% lynn district 33 0.9% brockton district 26 0.7% springfield district 23 0.7% pittsfield district 20 0.6% cambridge district 15 0.4% fall river district 15 0.4% lowell district 14 0.4% haverhill district 13 0.4% dedham district 10 0.3% chelsea district 9 0.3% quincy district 9 0.3% somerville district 9 0.3% waltham district 9 0.3% eastern hampshire district 8 0.2% attleboro district 7 0.2% worcester district 7 0.2% ayer district 6 0.2% bmc dorchester 6 0.2% bmc west roxbury 6 0.2% northern berkshire district 6 0.2% salem district 6 0.2% woburn district 6 0.2% bmc east boston 5 0.1% edgartown district 5 0.1% framingham district 5 0.1% palmer district 5 0.1% peabody district 4 0.1% brookline district 3 0.1% plymouth district 3 0.1% wareham district 3 0.1% bmc brighton 2 0.1% fallmouth district 2 0.1% natick district 2 0.1% orleans district 2 0.1% taunton district 2 0.1% barnstable district 1 0.0% bmc roxbury 1 0.0% bmc south boston 1 0.0% chicopee district 1 0.0% gloucester district 1 0.0% holyoke district 1 0.0% nantucket district 1 0.0% newton district 1 0.0% orange district 1 0.0% southern berkshire district 1 0.0% stoughton district 1 0.0% westfield district 1 0.0% wrentham district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 2717 11 Natural Person 770 3476 Total 3487 3487 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 77.9% 0.3% Natural Person 22.1% 99.7% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 2682 35 2717 Optional 360 410 770 Total 3042 445 3487 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 76.9% 1.0% 77.9% Optional 10.3% 11.8% 22.1% Total 87.2% 12.8% 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 11 11 Optional 14 3462 3476 Total 14 3473 3487 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.3% 0.3% Optional 0.4% 99.3% 99.7% Total 0.4% 99.6% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 92 2.6% 1 2448 70.2% 2 769 22.1% 3 132 3.8% 4 33 0.9% 5 10 0.3% 6 1 0.0% 7 2 0.1% Total 3487 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 2656 76.2% Cause 459 13.2% No Fault 356 10.2% Foreclosure 16 0.5% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Florence 316 3 Chestnut Hill 282 6 Southbridge 191 32 West Wareham 184 4 Mattapan 142 52 Dorchester 125 115 East Falmouth 121 7 Fall River 121 108 Fitchburg 121 49 Worcester 115 210 Allston 113 33 Randolph 105 34 New Bedford 104 99 Marlborough 103 40 Provincetown 101 3 Roxbury 100 60 Chelsea 99 35 Stoughton 96 26 Springfield 95 146 Lawrence 94 72 Everett 93 39 Brookfield 88 3 Athol 86 10 Malden 84 50 Lynn 81 74 Eastham 80 4 Jamaica Plain 80 30 Pittsfield 80 36 "Salem" 79 33 Lenox 79 4 West Springfield 77 22 Quincy 74 69 Edgartown 73 3 Revere 73 38 Turners Falls 73 3 Norwood 69 20 Taunton 68 38 Holyoke 67 27 Lowell 67 72 Palmer 65 8 Waltham 65 40 Middleborough 64 15 Brighton 63 28 Dennis Port 63 2 Tewksbury 62 18 Leominster 61 25 Canton 60 13 Milford 60 17 Woburn 60 23 Gardner 59 12 Manchester By The Sea 58 3 South Easton 58 6 Ashfield 57 1 East Sandwich 57 2 Framingham 57 39 Abington 56 9 Becket 56 1 West Yarmouth 56 3 Roslindale 55 16 Chicopee 54 30 Dracut 54 16 Wales 54 1 Ayer 53 4 Bondsville 53 1 Webster 53 9 Brockton 52 49 Millbury 52 7 Vineyard Haven 52 1 Stockbridge 51 1 Attleborough 50 22 Hopedale 50 3 Swampscott 50 7 Watertown 50 16 Indian Orchard 49 5 Westborough 49 9 Plainville 48 4 Whitman 48 7 Charlestown 47 8 Foxborough 47 8 Lincoln 47 3 Peabody 46 24 Huntington 45 1 West Roxbury 45 14 Haverhill 44 27 Raynham 44 6 Cambridge 43 46 North Adams 43 6 Whitinsville 43 3 Ashland 42 7 North Brookfield 42 2 East Boston 41 17 Gloucester 41 12 Hyde Park 41 14 Shirley 41 3 Beverly 40 16 Greenfield 40 7 Hadley 38 2 Danvers 37 10 Holbrook 37 4 Stoneham 37 8 Adams 35 3 Dudley 35 4 West Barnstable 35 1 Weymouth 35 19 Berlin 34 1 Carver 34 4 Mansfield 34 8 North Attleborough 34 10 Pocasset 34 1 Rockland 34 6 Three Rivers 34 1 Blackstone 33 3 Braintree 33 12 Bridgewater 33 9 Ludlow 33 7 Pembroke 33 6 East Wareham 32 7 Wareham 32 7 East Taunton 31 2 Franklin 31 10 Hudson 31 6 Plymouth 31 18 Westfield 31 13 Groveland 30 2 Medford 30 17 Charleston 29 5 Dalton 29 2 Maynard 29 3 Burlington 28 7 Winchester 28 6 Winthrop 28 5 Acton 27 6 Sagamore 27 1 Somerville 27 21 South Dennis 27 1 Dorchester Center 26 24 Saugus 26 7 South Boston 26 9 West Boylston 26 2 Wilmington 26 6 Methuen 25 12 Rutland 25 2 Sterling 25 2 Andover 24 8 Georgetown 24 2 Lancaster 24 2 Wakefield 24 6 Boston 23 144 Douglas 23 2 Kingston 23 3 Marshfield 23 6 Monson 23 2 West Newbury 23 1 Avon 22 1 Bedford 22 3 Billerica 22 9 Boylston 22 1 Brookline 22 13 Forestdale 22 1 Hubbardston 22 1 Melrose 22 6 South Grafton 22 1 Hyannis 21 3 North Andover 21 6 Norton 21 4 Brewster 20 2 Carlisle 20 1 East Freetown 20 1 Hopkinton 20 3 Marblehead 20 4 North Reading 20 3 Ware 20 2 Newtonville 19 1 Northbridge 19 3 Rochester 19 1 Amesbury 18 3 Bellingham 18 3 Lakeville 18 2 Leicester 18 2 Roxbury Crossing 18 11 South Barre 18 1 South Weymouth 18 10 Chelmsford 17 6 Lynnfield 17 2 Needham 17 5 Pepperell 17 2 South Yarmouth 17 2 Tyngsborough 17 2 "Lynn" 16 15 Ashburnham 16 1 Harwich 16 2 Mattapoisett 16 1 Medfield 16 2 Orleans 16 1 Salem 16 7 Charlton 15 2 North Easton 15 2 Agawam 14 4 Clinton 14 2 Great Barrington 14 1 Hanover 14 2 Rockport 14 1 Shrewsbury 14 5 Hingham 13 3 Westford 13 3 Westminster 13 1 Auburn 12 2 DEDHAM 12 3 Dedham 12 3 Easthampton 12 2 Fairhaven 12 2 Millis 12 1 Orange 12 1 Salisbury 12 1 Arlington 11 5 Assonet 11 1 Concord 11 2 Grafton 11 2 Sharon 11 2 Somerset 11 2 Sudbury 11 2 Auburndale 10 1 North Chelmsford 10 1 Northampton 10 3 Acushnet 9 1 Hanson 9 1 Lexington 9 3 Lunenburg 9 1 Nantucket 9 1 Natick 9 3 Winchendon 9 1 Wrentham 9 1 Belmont 8 2 Feeding Hills 8 1 Spencer 8 1 W.Harwich 8 1 Walpole 8 2 West Harwich 8 1 Weston 8 1 Bradford 7 1 Centerville 7 1 East Walpole 7 2 Holliston 7 1 Medway 7 1 Northborough 7 1 Oxford 7 1 Uxbridge 7 1 Wayland 7 1 "Duxbury" 6 1 East Longmeadow 6 1 Longmeadow 6 1 Wellesley Hills 6 2 Westwood 6 1 Amherst 5 2 Bourne 5 1 Newburyport 5 1 North Dartmouth 4 1 East Weymouth 3 2 Falmouth 3 1 Milton 3 1 Needham Heights 3 1 SPRINGFIELD 3 6 Wellesley 3 1 "Methuen" 2 1 "South Dartmouth" 2 1 Newton 2 2 "Cambridge" 1 2 "Quincy" 1 1 Chestnut Hill (Newton) 1 1 DORCHESTER 1 1 (not given) 0 305 BOSTON 0 2 span 0 1 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 Worcester 394 439 Hampden 388 276 Bristol 381 314 Plymouth 372 161 Berkshire 334 54 Suffolk 334 661 Norfolk 332 283 Essex 320 352 Middlesex 243 568 Barnstable 212 41 Franklin 113 12 Dukes 97 4 Hampshire 81 15 Nantucket 28 1 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/.