Filings Month Ending 2021 August 31

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2021-08-01 Search Period End: 2021-08-31 Earliest Case: 2021-08-02 Latest Case: 2021-08-31 Total Cases: 1962 Total Transfers: 55 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 38.7% Of those, percentage pro se: 51.2% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: West Hyannisport Least stable with 10+ filings: Fall River Least stable with 100+ filings: Worcester Least stable county: Plymouth Cases per day: 65 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 central 324 16.5% western 318 16.2% southeast 316 16.1% northeast 311 15.9% eastern 231 11.8% metro_south 160 8.2% quincy district 25 1.3% fall river district 24 1.2% pittsfield district 23 1.2% malden district 18 0.9% lynn district 16 0.8% cambridge district 13 0.7% northern berkshire district 13 0.7% lowell district 12 0.6% brockton district 11 0.6% woburn district 11 0.6% barnstable district 8 0.4% chelsea district 8 0.4% plymouth district 8 0.4% waltham district 8 0.4% bmc east boston 7 0.4% haverhill district 6 0.3% taunton district 6 0.3% attleboro district 5 0.3% framingham district 5 0.3% new bedford district 5 0.3% newburyport district 5 0.3% wrentham district 5 0.3% ayer district 4 0.2% hingham district 4 0.2% lawrence district 4 0.2% springfield district 4 0.2% westfield district 4 0.2% bmc west roxbury 3 0.2% fallmouth district 3 0.2% nantucket district 3 0.2% orleans district 3 0.2% stoughton district 3 0.2% bmc central 2 0.1% chicopee district 2 0.1% dedham district 2 0.1% newton district 2 0.1% somerville district 2 0.1% wareham district 2 0.1% bmc brighton 1 0.1% bmc south boston 1 0.1% brookline district 1 0.1% clinton district 1 0.1% gloucester district 1 0.1% leominster district 1 0.1% milford district 1 0.1% orange district 1 0.1% palmer district 1 0.1% peabody district 1 0.1% salem district 1 0.1% southern berkshire district 1 0.1% uxbridge district 1 0.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 1202 3 Natural Person 760 1959 Total 1962 1962 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 61.3% 0.2% Natural Person 38.7% 99.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 1177 25 1202 Optional 371 389 760 Total 1548 414 1962 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 60.0% 1.3% 61.3% Optional 18.9% 19.8% 38.7% Total 78.9% 21.1% 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 2 3 Optional 40 1919 1959 Total 41 1921 1962 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% Optional 2.0% 97.8% 99.8% Total 2.1% 97.9% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 158 8.1% 1 1325 67.5% 2 385 19.6% 3 62 3.2% 4 21 1.1% 5 7 0.4% 6 2 0.1% 11 1 0.1% 12 1 0.1% Total 1962 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 1041 53.1% Cause 476 24.3% No Fault 438 22.3% Foreclosure 6 0.3% Unknown/Other 1 0.1% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count West Hyannisport 1111 2 Royalston 158 2 Housatonic 132 1 Fall River 101 90 New Bedford 88 84 North Adams 80 11 East Dennis 77 2 Randolph 71 23 Southbridge 71 12 Athol 69 8 Fitchburg 69 28 South Yarmouth 68 8 Provincetown 67 2 Lanesborough 64 2 Worcester 64 117 Bolton 61 3 Lawrence 61 47 Brockton 59 56 Marlborough 59 23 Taunton 59 33 Teaticket 58 1 Rockland 57 10 Hyannis 56 8 Barre 55 3 Webster 53 9 Framingham 51 35 Newton Center 51 2 Pittsfield 49 22 Chelsea 48 17 Hull 48 5 Lowell 48 52 Salisbury 48 4 Chestnut Hill 47 1 Norton 47 9 Milford 46 13 Boylston 45 2 Forestdale 45 2 South Grafton 44 2 Lynn 43 39 Spencer 42 5 East Wareham 41 9 Eastham 40 2 Marion 40 2 Gardner 39 8 Haverhill 39 24 Yarmouth Port 39 2 Everett 38 16 Middleborough 38 9 Warren 38 2 Malden 37 22 North Falmouth 37 1 Revere 36 19 Marblehead 35 7 Northborough 35 5 West Barnstable 35 1 Berlin 34 1 East Falmouth 34 2 Pocasset 34 1 Quincy 34 32 Peabody 33 17 Ashby 32 1 East Boston 32 13 Fiskdale 32 1 Westborough 32 6 Dennis Port 31 1 Bridgewater 30 8 Cotuit 30 1 Mattapan 30 11 Jamaica Plain 29 11 Methuen 29 14 Nantucket 29 3 Princeton 29 1 Dorchester 28 26 Franklin 28 9 West Bridgewater 28 2 Allston 27 8 Beverly 27 11 Braintree 27 10 Sagamore Beach 27 1 Ayer 26 2 Halifax 26 2 Plymouth 26 15 Attleborough 25 11 Millis 25 2 Stoughton 25 7 Norwood 24 7 Plainville 24 2 Adams 23 2 Canton 23 5 Clinton 22 3 Raynham 22 3 Sharon 22 4 Somerset 22 4 Townsend 22 2 Wareham 22 5 Winthrop 22 4 Andover 21 7 East Bridgewater 21 3 Hanover 21 3 Mashpee 21 3 North Chelmsford 21 2 Sturbridge 21 2 Swampscott 21 3 Boxborough 20 1 Dorchester Center 20 19 Roslindale 20 6 Indian Orchard 19 2 Leominster 19 8 Lunenburg 19 2 Newtonville 19 1 South Easton 19 2 Westport 19 3 Winchendon 19 2 Hingham 18 4 Holbrook 18 2 Saugus 18 5 West Yarmouth 18 1 Wrentham 18 2 Charlestown 17 3 Newburyport 17 3 North Andover 17 5 Pepperell 17 2 Tyngsborough 17 2 Burlington 16 4 Mattapoisett 16 1 Walpole 16 4 Danvers 15 4 East Taunton 15 1 Lincoln 15 1 Stow 15 1 Woburn 15 6 Arlington 14 6 Billerica 14 6 East Weymouth 14 8 Hyde Park 14 5 Uxbridge 14 2 Waltham 14 9 Whitinsville 14 1 Brookline 13 8 Cambridge 13 14 Cohasset 13 1 Hopkinton 13 2 Roxbury 13 8 West Roxbury 13 4 Whitman 13 2 Wilmington 13 3 Abington 12 2 Amesbury 12 2 Ashland 12 2 Belmont 12 3 Boxford 12 1 Fairhaven 12 2 Georgetown 12 1 Mansfield 12 3 North Dartmouth 12 3 Orange 12 1 Salem 12 5 Waban 12 1 Williamstown 12 1 Assonet 11 1 Blackstone 11 1 Chelmsford 11 4 Foxborough 11 2 Melrose 11 3 Pembroke 11 2 Shrewsbury 11 4 Sutton 11 1 Brewster 10 1 Gloucester 10 3 Hudson 10 2 Medford 10 6 Tewksbury 10 3 Brighton 9 4 Lakeville 9 1 Leicester 9 1 Natick 9 3 North Billerica 9 1 Norwell 9 1 Onset 9 2 Springfield 9 14 Stoneham 9 2 Westfield 9 4 Carver 8 1 Dudley 8 1 Norfolk 8 1 Reading 8 2 Roxbury Crossing 8 5 Weston 8 1 Boston 7 48 Charlton 7 1 Chicopee 7 4 E. Boston 7 3 Holliston 7 1 Holyoke 7 3 Medway 7 1 Millbury 7 1 North Easton 7 1 Somerville 7 6 Wellesley 7 2 Weymouth 7 4 Auburn 6 1 Dracut 6 2 North Reading 6 1 Northbridge 6 1 Swansea 6 1 Watertown 6 2 Concord 5 1 Grafton 5 1 Greenfield 5 1 South Boston 5 2 South Dartmouth 5 2 Sudbury 5 1 Dedham 4 1 Wakefield 4 1 Westford 4 1 Agawam 3 1 Falmouth 3 1 Lexington 3 1 Marshfield 3 1 Milton 3 1 Needham Heights 3 1 North Attleborough 3 1 West Springfield 3 1 Amherst 2 1 Newton 1 1 North Weymouth 1 1 South Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 354 span 0 4 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 338 146 Bristol 308 254 Berkshire 241 39 Worcester 234 261 Barnstable 222 43 Essex 183 202 Norfolk 166 142 Middlesex 114 266 Suffolk 109 216 Nantucket 85 3 Hampden 40 29 Franklin 18 2 Hampshire 5 1 Dukes 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. -- When Citing This Work, Please Credit: MassLandlords, Inc. Available online at https://masslandlords.net/policy/eviction-data/.