Filings Month Ending 2022 May 31

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-05-01 Search Period End: 2022-05-31 Earliest Case: 2022-05-02 Latest Case: 2022-05-31 Total Cases: 2623 Total Transfers: 62 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 31.5% Of those, percentage pro se: 53.8% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Cummaquid Least stable with 10+ filings: Fall River Least stable with 100+ filings: Fall River Least stable county: Plymouth Cases per day: 87 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 northeast 454 17.3% eastern 415 15.8% central 410 15.6% southeast 363 13.8% western 342 13.0% metro_south 234 8.9% quincy district 38 1.4% lynn district 33 1.3% malden district 27 1.0% brockton district 26 1.0% pittsfield district 23 0.9% chelsea district 18 0.7% fall river district 14 0.5% woburn district 14 0.5% attleboro district 12 0.5% haverhill district 12 0.5% bmc east boston 11 0.4% somerville district 11 0.4% lowell district 10 0.4% wrentham district 10 0.4% newburyport district 9 0.3% bmc brighton 8 0.3% framingham district 8 0.3% waltham district 8 0.3% barnstable district 7 0.3% fallmouth district 7 0.3% cambridge district 6 0.2% northern berkshire district 6 0.2% springfield district 6 0.2% dedham district 5 0.2% edgartown district 5 0.2% lawrence district 5 0.2% new bedford district 5 0.2% orleans district 5 0.2% peabody district 5 0.2% stoughton district 5 0.2% bmc roxbury 3 0.1% bmc west roxbury 3 0.1% brookline district 3 0.1% milford district 3 0.1% palmer district 3 0.1% wareham district 3 0.1% westfield district 3 0.1% bmc central 2 0.1% bmc charlestown 2 0.1% chicopee district 2 0.1% concord district 2 0.1% eastern hampshire district 2 0.1% gloucester district 2 0.1% greenfield district 2 0.1% holyoke district 2 0.1% newton district 2 0.1% salem district 2 0.1% ayer district 1 0.0% hingham district 1 0.0% nantucket district 1 0.0% orange district 1 0.0% southern berkshire district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 1796 64 Natural Person 827 2559 Total 2623 2623 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 68.5% 2.4% Natural Person 31.5% 97.6% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 1742 54 1796 Optional 382 445 827 Total 2124 499 2623 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 66.4% 2.1% 68.5% Optional 14.6% 17.0% 31.5% Total 81.0% 19.0% 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 64 64 Optional 30 2529 2559 Total 30 2593 2623 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 2.4% 2.4% Optional 1.1% 96.4% 97.6% Total 1.1% 98.9% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 204 7.8% 1 1887 71.9% 2 440 16.8% 3 64 2.4% 4 21 0.8% 5 4 0.2% 7 2 0.1% 8 1 0.0% Total 2623 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 1381 52.6% Cause 668 25.5% No Fault 535 20.4% Foreclosure 39 1.5% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Cummaquid 182 1 North Chatham 142 1 Chestnut Hill 141 3 East Falmouth 138 8 Fiskdale 129 4 Fall River 114 102 Plainville 108 9 New Bedford 93 89 West Wareham 92 2 Worcester 90 163 Gilbertville 86 1 Framingham 80 55 Rockland 80 14 Stoughton 77 21 Brockton 76 72 Bridgewater 75 20 Marlborough 75 29 Gardner 74 15 Berlin 69 2 Chelsea 68 24 South Yarmouth 68 8 Leominster 66 27 Quincy 65 60 Hyannis 63 9 Fitchburg 59 24 Norwood 59 17 Southbridge 59 10 Buzzards Bay 58 2 Hull 58 6 Harwich Port 57 1 Middleborough 56 13 Revere 56 29 West Yarmouth 56 3 South Dennis 54 2 Cohasset 53 4 Webster 53 9 Athol 51 6 Newton Center 51 2 Edgartown 49 2 Pittsfield 49 22 Chatham 48 3 Fairhaven 44 7 Whitinsville 43 3 Taunton 41 23 Eastham 40 2 Sharon 39 7 Mansfield 38 9 Warren 38 2 North Falmouth 37 1 Clinton 36 5 North Adams 36 5 Everett 35 15 Mattapan 35 13 Plympton 35 1 Pocasset 34 1 Three Rivers 34 1 Westwood 34 5 Dorchester 33 31 Lynn 33 30 Mattapoisett 33 2 Attleborough 32 14 Canton 32 7 Sturbridge 32 3 Dennis Port 31 1 Hudson 31 6 Amesbury 30 5 Braintree 30 11 Brookfield 29 1 Foxborough 29 5 Hyde Park 29 10 Uxbridge 29 4 Osterville 28 1 Pembroke 28 5 Randolph 28 9 Winthrop 28 5 East Wareham 27 6 Holbrook 27 3 Abington 25 4 Rehoboth 25 3 Rutland 25 2 Shrewsbury 25 9 Harwich 24 3 Turners Falls 24 1 Malden 23 14 Plymouth 23 13 Centerville 22 3 Forestdale 22 1 Franklin 22 7 Haverhill 22 14 Millbury 22 3 South Grafton 22 1 Weymouth 22 12 Medford 21 12 Milford 21 6 Dedham 20 5 East Freetown 20 1 Paxton 20 1 Ware 20 2 Nantucket 19 2 Newtonville 19 1 Rochester 19 1 Somerville 19 15 Westport 19 3 Auburn 18 3 Leicester 18 2 South Barre 18 1 Wareham 18 4 Wrentham 18 2 Carver 17 2 Dudley 17 2 E. Boston 17 7 North Attleborough 17 5 Roslindale 17 5 Rowley 17 1 Ashburnham 16 1 Burlington 16 4 East Weymouth 16 9 Walpole 16 4 Berkley 15 1 Charlton 15 2 Kingston 15 2 Marshfield 15 4 Merrimac 15 1 Norton 15 3 Saugus 15 4 Woburn 15 6 Cambridge 14 15 Dighton 14 1 East Boston 14 6 Great Barrington 14 1 Mashpee 14 2 Northborough 14 2 West Bridgewater 14 1 Allston 13 4 Brighton 13 6 Dorchester Center 13 12 Jamaica Plain 13 5 Needham 13 4 Whitman 13 2 Ashland 12 2 Natick 12 4 Northbridge 12 2 Orange 12 1 Adams 11 1 Assonet 11 1 Charlestown 11 2 Milton 11 3 Monson 11 1 Roxbury 11 7 Waltham 11 7 Beverly 10 4 Brewster 10 1 Brookline 10 6 Gloucester 10 3 Acton 9 2 Acushnet 9 1 Falmouth 9 3 Hanson 9 1 Indian Orchard 9 1 Lakeville 9 1 South Easton 9 1 South Weymouth 9 5 Belmont 8 2 Chelmsford 8 3 Feeding Hills 8 1 Lowell 8 9 North Dartmouth 8 2 Spencer 8 1 Weston 8 1 Wilmington 8 2 Agawam 7 2 Arlington 7 3 Boston 7 44 East Walpole 7 2 Hanover 7 1 Holyoke 7 3 Medway 7 1 North Uxbridge 7 1 Oxford 7 1 Seekonk 7 1 Bellingham 6 1 Hopkinton 6 1 Watertown 6 2 West Roxbury 6 2 Bourne 5 1 Chicopee 5 3 Greenfield 5 1 Holden 5 1 Lawrence 5 4 Newburyport 5 1 Scituate 5 1 Somerset 5 1 South Dartmouth 5 2 Hingham 4 1 Salem 4 2 Wakefield 4 1 Westford 4 1 Lexington 3 1 Newton 3 3 Springfield 3 6 Wellesley 3 1 Wellesley Hills 3 1 Newton Highlands 2 2 South Boston 2 1 Westfield 2 1 North Weymouth 1 1 Peabody 1 1 (not given) 0 1009 span 0 2 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 414 179 Bristol 328 270 Barnstable 300 58 Worcester 287 320 Norfolk 263 225 Berkshire 179 29 Suffolk 107 213 Middlesex 94 220 Essex 63 70 Nantucket 56 2 Dukes 48 2 Franklin 28 3 Hampden 26 19 Hampshire 10 2 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. -- When Citing This Work, Please Credit: MassLandlords, Inc. Available online at https://masslandlords.net/policy/eviction-data/.