Filings Month Ending 2023 January 31

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2023-01-01 Search Period End: 2023-01-31 Earliest Case: 2023-01-02 Latest Case: 2023-01-31 Total Cases: 3361 Total Transfers: 60 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 22.0% Of those, percentage pro se: 50.9% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Oxford Least stable with 10+ filings: Oxford Least stable with 100+ filings: New Bedford Least stable county: Plymouth Cases per day: 112 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 647 19.3% northeast 554 16.5% central 502 14.9% western 494 14.7% southeast 398 11.8% metro_south 283 8.4% quincy district 45 1.3% lynn district 41 1.2% malden district 41 1.2% lawrence district 36 1.1% somerville district 27 0.8% brockton district 25 0.7% lowell district 23 0.7% pittsfield district 21 0.6% springfield district 21 0.6% chelsea district 19 0.6% woburn district 16 0.5% cambridge district 11 0.3% fall river district 11 0.3% waltham district 11 0.3% haverhill district 9 0.3% new bedford district 9 0.3% peabody district 9 0.3% attleboro district 8 0.2% framingham district 8 0.2% salem district 8 0.2% chicopee district 7 0.2% northern berkshire district 7 0.2% barnstable district 6 0.2% plymouth district 6 0.2% southern berkshire district 6 0.2% dedham district 4 0.1% worcester district 4 0.1% bmc dorchester 3 0.1% bmc east boston 3 0.1% gloucester district 3 0.1% nantucket district 3 0.1% wrentham district 3 0.1% bmc roxbury 2 0.1% concord district 2 0.1% edgartown district 2 0.1% fallmouth district 2 0.1% hingham district 2 0.1% natick district 2 0.1% orleans district 2 0.1% stoughton district 2 0.1% westfield district 2 0.1% ayer district 1 0.0% bmc brighton 1 0.0% bmc south boston 1 0.0% bmc west roxbury 1 0.0% greenfield district 1 0.0% holyoke district 1 0.0% newburyport district 1 0.0% newton district 1 0.0% palmer district 1 0.0% taunton district 1 0.0% wareham district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 2621 11 Natural Person 740 3350 Total 3361 3361 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 78.0% 0.3% Natural Person 22.0% 99.7% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 2563 58 2621 Optional 363 377 740 Total 2926 435 3361 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 76.3% 1.7% 78.0% Optional 10.8% 11.2% 22.0% Total 87.1% 12.9% 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 33 3317 3350 Total 33 3328 3361 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.3% 0.3% Optional 1.0% 98.7% 99.7% Total 1.0% 99.0% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 184 5.5% 1 2510 74.7% 2 546 16.2% 3 89 2.6% 4 23 0.7% 5 8 0.2% 6 1 0.0% Total 3361 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 2490 74.1% Cause 477 14.2% No Fault 373 11.1% Foreclosure 21 0.6% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Oxford 175 24 New Bedford 133 127 Housatonic 132 1 Fall River 121 108 Buzzards Bay 116 4 Worcester 109 198 Stoughton 103 28 Lynn 99 90 North Truro 99 2 Southbridge 95 16 Fitchburg 94 38 West Yarmouth 94 5 Leominster 90 37 South Easton 88 9 West Warren 88 1 Gilbertville 86 1 Brockton 79 75 Hyannis 78 11 Marlborough 77 30 Salem 77 32 West Stockbridge 76 1 Danvers 75 20 Malden 75 45 Wrentham 73 8 Norwood 66 19 Framingham 65 45 Gardner 64 13 Beverly 63 25 Norfolk 62 7 Peabody 62 32 Randolph 62 20 Whitman 62 9 Athol 60 7 Harwich Port 57 1 Whitinsville 57 4 Great Barrington 56 4 Middleborough 56 13 Osterville 56 2 South Dennis 54 2 Westborough 54 10 Halifax 53 4 Lawrence 53 41 Milford 53 15 Bridgewater 52 14 Saugus 52 14 Vineyard Haven 52 1 Canton 51 11 Quincy 50 47 Lunenburg 49 5 Nantucket 49 5 Walpole 49 12 Waltham 49 30 Attleborough 48 21 Pittsfield 46 21 Stoneham 46 10 Taunton 46 26 Rockland 45 8 Blackstone 44 4 Braintree 44 16 North Oxford 44 1 Dudley 43 5 Everett 43 18 Haverhill 42 26 Spencer 42 5 West Springfield 42 12 Kingston 39 5 Medway 39 5 Yarmouth Port 39 2 Holbrook 37 4 Lakeville 37 4 Rutland 37 3 Weymouth 37 20 Acton 36 8 Clinton 36 5 Plainville 36 3 Woburn 36 14 Webster 35 6 Berlin 34 1 Chelsea 34 12 North Attleborough 34 10 Pocasset 34 1 Melrose 33 9 Orleans 33 2 Provincetown 33 1 Dennis Port 31 1 North Andover 31 9 Norton 31 6 Bellingham 30 5 Cheshire 30 1 Millbury 30 4 East Weymouth 29 16 Hanson 29 3 Hull 29 3 Nahant 29 1 North Adams 29 4 Somerville 29 22 Swampscott 29 4 Mashpee 28 4 Reading 28 7 Sudbury 28 5 West Boylston 26 2 Abington 25 4 Newton Center 25 1 North Dartmouth 25 6 South Yarmouth 25 3 Turners Falls 24 1 Wakefield 24 6 Adams 23 2 Lowell 23 25 Revere 23 12 Bradford 22 3 Oak Bluffs 22 1 Shrewsbury 22 8 South Grafton 22 1 Northborough 21 3 Brewster 20 2 Burlington 20 5 East Freetown 20 1 Gloucester 20 6 Marion 20 1 Marstons Mills 20 1 Duxbury 19 3 Winchendon 19 2 Franklin 18 6 Hingham 18 4 North Billerica 18 2 Wareham 18 4 East Falmouth 17 1 Newburyport 17 3 Rowley 17 1 Winthrop 17 3 Ashburnham 16 1 Chatham 16 1 Chicopee 16 9 Methuen 16 8 Newton Upper Falls 16 1 Pembroke 16 3 Bedford 15 2 East Taunton 15 1 Groveland 15 1 Natick 15 5 Watertown 15 5 Dighton 14 1 Holliston 14 2 Rockport 14 1 Seekonk 14 2 Cohasset 13 1 Roslindale 13 4 Westwood 13 2 Auburn 12 2 Billerica 12 5 Dedham 12 3 Lexington 12 4 Salisbury 12 1 Dorchester 11 11 Foxborough 11 2 Hyde Park 11 4 Littleton 11 1 Marshfield 11 3 Middleton 11 1 Sharon 11 2 Hudson 10 2 Jamaica Plain 10 4 Marblehead 10 2 Mattapan 10 4 Plymouth 10 6 Acushnet 9 1 Andover 9 3 East Wareham 9 2 Indian Orchard 9 1 Maynard 9 1 Onset 9 2 Belmont 8 2 Carver 8 1 Mansfield 8 2 Tyngsborough 8 1 Wilmington 8 2 Centerville 7 1 East Bridgewater 7 1 Ipswich 7 1 Milton 7 2 Wellesley 7 2 Amesbury 6 1 Ashland 6 1 Cambridge 6 7 Dracut 6 2 Hopkinton 6 1 North Reading 6 1 Springfield 6 10 Bourne 5 1 Concord 5 1 Grafton 5 1 Holden 5 1 Medford 5 3 Somerset 5 1 South Weymouth 5 3 Arlington 4 2 Dorchester Center 4 4 E. Boston 4 2 Sandwich 4 1 Westfield 4 2 East Walpole 3 1 Needham 3 1 East Boston 2 1 Holyoke 2 1 South Dartmouth 2 1 Newton Lower Falls 1 1 Roxbury 1 1 Roxbury Crossing 1 1 (not given) 0 1344 Boston 0 1 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 Plymouth 398 172 Bristol 392 323 Worcester 380 424 Essex 296 326 Norfolk 289 247 Barnstable 253 49 Berkshire 210 34 Middlesex 143 334 Nantucket 142 5 Hampden 49 35 Dukes 48 2 Suffolk 32 64 Franklin 9 1 Hampshire 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/.