Filings Month Ending 2023 February 28

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2023-02-01 Search Period End: 2023-02-28 Earliest Case: 2023-02-01 Latest Case: 2023-02-28 Total Cases: 3205 Total Transfers: 67 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 22.9% Of those, percentage pro se: 52.8% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Gilbertville Least stable with 10+ filings: Stoughton Least stable with 100+ filings: New Bedford Least stable county: Plymouth Cases per day: 118 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 western 519 16.2% northeast 514 16.0% eastern 510 15.9% central 464 14.5% southeast 400 12.5% metro_south 301 9.4% malden district 41 1.3% quincy district 41 1.3% lawrence district 37 1.2% lowell district 31 1.0% lynn district 28 0.9% brockton district 23 0.7% somerville district 22 0.7% fall river district 19 0.6% framingham district 17 0.5% chicopee district 16 0.5% chelsea district 13 0.4% bmc west roxbury 12 0.4% cambridge district 12 0.4% new bedford district 12 0.4% northern berkshire district 12 0.4% springfield district 12 0.4% dedham district 11 0.3% worcester district 11 0.3% attleboro district 10 0.3% pittsfield district 10 0.3% haverhill district 9 0.3% peabody district 9 0.3% waltham district 9 0.3% bmc roxbury 7 0.2% salem district 7 0.2% woburn district 6 0.2% barnstable district 5 0.2% concord district 5 0.2% fallmouth district 5 0.2% newton district 4 0.1% bmc east boston 3 0.1% holyoke district 3 0.1% newburyport district 3 0.1% orleans district 3 0.1% stoughton district 3 0.1% wrentham district 3 0.1% bmc central 2 0.1% bmc dorchester 2 0.1% gloucester district 2 0.1% hingham district 2 0.1% milford district 2 0.1% palmer district 2 0.1% ayer district 1 0.0% clinton district 1 0.0% greenfield district 1 0.0% ipswich district 1 0.0% natick district 1 0.0% northampton district 1 0.0% southern berkshire district 1 0.0% taunton district 1 0.0% uxbridge district 1 0.0% wareham district 1 0.0% westfield district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 2472 6 Natural Person 733 3199 Total 3205 3205 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 77.1% 0.2% Natural Person 22.9% 99.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 2390 82 2472 Optional 346 387 733 Total 2736 469 3205 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 74.6% 2.6% 77.1% Optional 10.8% 12.1% 22.9% Total 85.4% 14.6% 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 6 6 Optional 26 3173 3199 Total 26 3179 3205 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.2% 0.2% Optional 0.8% 99.0% 99.8% Total 0.8% 99.2% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 209 6.5% 1 2390 74.6% 2 505 15.8% 3 69 2.2% 4 24 0.7% 5 8 0.2% Total 3205 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 2325 72.5% Cause 482 15.0% No Fault 373 11.6% Foreclosure 24 0.7% Unknown/Other 1 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Gilbertville 173 2 Stoughton 155 42 New Bedford 147 140 Marlborough 129 50 East Sandwich 115 4 Fall River 115 103 Dedham 109 27 Brockton 99 93 Gardner 93 19 Hyannis 92 13 Fitchburg 89 36 Southbridge 89 15 Worcester 89 162 Buzzards Bay 87 3 Athol 86 10 Framingham 86 59 North Billerica 84 9 South Dennis 81 3 Norwood 80 23 South Easton 78 8 Quincy 73 68 Berlin 69 2 East Falmouth 69 4 Seekonk 65 9 Cheshire 61 2 Douglas 59 5 North Adams 58 8 Harwich Port 57 1 Rockland 57 10 Waltham 56 34 Chelsea 54 19 Leominster 53 22 Baldwinville 52 1 Malden 52 31 Mattapan 52 19 Raynham 52 7 Canton 51 11 Clinton 51 7 Newton Center 51 2 East Wareham 50 11 Westborough 49 9 Plainville 48 4 Taunton 48 27 North Dighton 47 2 Lynn 46 42 Randolph 46 15 West Wareham 46 1 Hanover 43 6 North Attleborough 41 12 Revere 40 21 Milford 39 11 Yarmouth Port 39 2 Middleborough 38 9 Newtonville 38 2 Abington 37 6 Bridgewater 37 10 Lawrence 37 29 Millbury 37 5 West Yarmouth 37 2 Bellingham 36 6 Hudson 36 7 Natick 36 12 Wellfleet 36 1 Northborough 35 5 Plympton 35 1 Mendon 34 2 Roslindale 34 10 Braintree 33 12 Littleton 33 3 Provincetown 33 1 Ashburnham 32 2 Dorchester 32 30 East Taunton 31 2 Lincoln 31 2 Beverly 30 12 Cotuit 30 1 Medford 30 17 Foxborough 29 5 Nahant 29 1 Webster 29 5 Chicopee 28 16 Everett 28 12 Jefferson 28 1 West Springfield 28 8 Whitinsville 28 2 Woburn 28 11 Attleborough 27 12 Marshfield 27 7 Dudley 26 3 Northbridge 25 4 Shrewsbury 25 9 Somerville 25 19 North Andover 24 7 Plymouth 24 14 Turners Falls 24 1 Adams 23 2 Allston 23 7 Kingston 23 3 Lowell 23 25 Peabody 23 12 Avon 22 1 Bedford 22 3 Pittsfield 22 10 Uxbridge 22 3 Weymouth 22 12 Mansfield 21 5 Roxbury 21 13 Burlington 20 5 East Weymouth 20 11 Hopkinton 20 3 Marstons Mills 20 1 Walpole 20 5 Westwood 20 3 Maynard 19 2 Salem 19 8 Warren 19 1 Winchendon 19 2 Barre 18 1 Hingham 18 4 Wareham 18 4 Carver 17 2 Gloucester 17 5 Haverhill 16 10 Jamaica Plain 16 6 Orleans 16 1 Topsfield 16 1 Cambridge 15 16 Charlton 15 2 Stow 15 1 Dalton 14 1 Great Barrington 14 1 Mashpee 14 2 Ayer 13 1 Cohasset 13 1 Needham 13 4 West Roxbury 13 4 Whitman 13 2 Belmont 12 3 East Templeton 12 1 Fairhaven 12 2 Millis 12 1 Rutland 12 1 South Hamilton 12 1 Watertown 12 4 Assonet 11 1 Blackstone 11 1 Brookline 11 7 Melrose 11 3 Newburyport 11 2 Saugus 11 3 Sharon 11 2 Auburndale 10 1 Brewster 10 1 Marblehead 10 2 Norton 10 2 Sturbridge 10 1 Billerica 9 4 Dorchester Center 9 9 Franklin 9 3 Hanson 9 1 Holbrook 9 1 Hull 9 1 Leicester 9 1 Norwell 9 1 Stoneham 9 2 Chelmsford 8 3 Harwich 8 1 Hyde Park 8 3 Lynnfield 8 1 North Dartmouth 8 2 Roxbury Crossing 8 5 South Boston 8 3 South Yarmouth 8 1 Spencer 8 1 Wakefield 8 2 Arlington 7 3 Centerville 7 1 Holliston 7 1 Holyoke 7 3 North Easton 7 1 North Uxbridge 7 1 Oxford 7 1 Amesbury 6 1 Ashland 6 1 Auburn 6 1 Dracut 6 2 Falmouth 6 2 Methuen 6 3 North Reading 6 1 Swansea 6 1 Charlestown 5 1 Grafton 5 1 South Weymouth 5 3 Winthrop 5 1 Brighton 4 2 E. Boston 4 2 Sandwich 4 1 Westford 4 1 Andover 3 1 Boston 3 22 East Walpole 3 1 Lexington 3 1 Milton 3 1 Newton Highlands 3 3 Springfield 3 5 Wellesley 3 1 Westfield 2 1 Newton 1 1 North Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 1268 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 430 186 Bristol 408 336 Worcester 321 358 Norfolk 317 271 Barnstable 238 46 Middlesex 155 362 Berkshire 148 24 Essex 128 141 Suffolk 89 177 Hampden 46 33 Franklin 9 1 Dukes 0 0 Hampshire 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/.