Filings Month Ending 2025 February 28

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2025-02-01 Search Period End: 2025-02-28 Earliest Case: 2025-02-03 Latest Case: 2025-02-28 Total Cases: 3047 Total Transfers: 53 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 22.3% Of those, percentage pro se: 54.8% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Florence Least stable with 10+ filings: Sunderland Least stable with 100+ filings: Springfield Least stable county: Hampden 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 northeast 586 19.2% eastern 564 18.5% western 440 14.4% central 426 14.0% southeast 376 12.3% metro_south 253 8.3% malden district 41 1.3% quincy district 41 1.3% brockton district 28 0.9% bmc west roxbury 25 0.8% lynn district 22 0.7% cambridge district 16 0.5% lawrence district 16 0.5% chelsea district 14 0.5% fall river district 14 0.5% waltham district 14 0.5% springfield district 13 0.4% lowell district 12 0.4% northern berkshire district 12 0.4% bmc brighton 11 0.4% bmc dorchester 9 0.3% pittsfield district 8 0.3% woburn district 8 0.3% dedham district 7 0.2% plymouth district 7 0.2% somerville district 7 0.2% haverhill district 6 0.2% salem district 6 0.2% framingham district 5 0.2% peabody district 5 0.2% worcester district 5 0.2% fallmouth district 4 0.1% fitchburg district 4 0.1% new bedford district 4 0.1% wareham district 4 0.1% attleboro district 3 0.1% ayer district 3 0.1% bmc central 3 0.1% newton district 3 0.1% westfield district 3 0.1% barnstable district 2 0.1% bmc east boston 2 0.1% bmc south boston 2 0.1% concord district 2 0.1% edgartown district 2 0.1% northampton district 2 0.1% stoughton district 2 0.1% wrentham district 2 0.1% natick district 1 0.0% newburyport district 1 0.0% palmer district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 2368 4 Natural Person 679 3043 Total 3047 3047 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 77.7% 0.1% Natural Person 22.3% 99.9% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 2344 24 2368 Optional 307 372 679 Total 2651 396 3047 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 76.9% 0.8% 77.7% Optional 10.1% 12.2% 22.3% Total 87.0% 13.0% 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 4 4 Optional 14 3029 3043 Total 14 3033 3047 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% Optional 0.5% 99.4% 99.9% Total 0.5% 99.5% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 81 2.7% 1 2097 68.8% 2 717 23.5% 3 107 3.5% 4 29 1.0% 5 13 0.4% 6 2 0.1% 7 1 0.0% Total 3047 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 2255 74.0% Cause 409 13.4% No Fault 352 11.6% Foreclosure 30 1.0% Unknown/Other 1 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Florence 949 9 Sunderland 271 10 Chestnut Hill 188 4 West Warren 176 2 Berlin 174 5 Erving 166 3 Thorndike 144 1 North Adams 124 17 Holyoke 117 47 Springfield 117 180 Southbridge 113 19 Lynn 108 98 New Bedford 108 103 Fall River 106 95 Everett 105 44 Vineyard Haven 105 2 Roslindale 100 29 Lowell 98 105 Dorchester 96 89 Framingham 93 64 West Wareham 92 2 Roxbury 90 54 Fitchburg 89 36 Salem 89 37 Buzzards Bay 87 3 Randolph 87 28 Charlestown 83 14 Worcester 83 151 Malden 82 49 Ware 81 8 Brockton 79 75 Gardner 79 16 Revere 79 41 Charlemont 78 1 Hyannis 78 11 Millers Falls 77 1 Dorchester Center 76 70 Bradford 74 10 Westborough 71 13 Maynard 69 7 Rockland 68 12 Norwood 66 19 Mattapan 63 23 West Springfield 63 18 Chelsea 62 22 Chicopee 61 34 Quincy 61 57 South Easton 58 6 Greenfield 57 10 Marlborough 57 22 Abington 56 9 Saugus 56 15 Tewksbury 55 16 Hyde Park 53 18 Raynham 52 7 Allston 51 15 Middleborough 51 12 Pittsfield 51 23 Brighton 50 22 Lawrence 49 38 Andover 48 16 Attleborough 48 21 Hull 48 5 Adams 47 4 West Townsend 47 1 Cambridge 46 49 Canton 46 10 Holbrook 46 5 Milford 46 13 Watertown 46 15 South Hadley 45 8 Billerica 44 18 Burlington 44 11 Oak Bluffs 44 2 Athol 43 5 Whitinsville 43 3 Spencer 42 5 Foxborough 41 7 Franklin 41 13 Webster 41 7 Holland 40 1 Indian Orchard 39 4 Marshfield 39 10 Waltham 39 24 Manchester 38 2 Millis 38 3 Newtonville 38 2 Orange 38 3 Warren 38 2 Bedford 37 5 North Falmouth 37 1 West Yarmouth 37 2 Haverhill 36 22 Peabody 35 18 Weymouth 35 19 Jamaica Plain 34 13 Taunton 34 19 Three Rivers 34 1 Woburn 34 13 Braintree 33 12 Bridgewater 33 9 Lee 33 2 Littleton 33 3 Beverly 32 13 East Wareham 32 7 Fiskdale 32 1 Dunstable 31 1 Gloucester 31 9 Leominster 31 13 Medway 31 4 Plymouth 31 18 Dracut 30 9 Sheffield 30 1 Dalton 29 2 Nahant 29 1 Princeton 29 1 Seekonk 29 4 Stoughton 29 8 West Hatfield 29 1 Westfield 29 12 Brimfield 27 1 Sagamore Beach 27 1 Shirley 27 2 South Dennis 27 1 Cohasset 26 2 Hudson 26 5 Somerville 26 20 Tyngsborough 26 3 Feeding Hills 25 3 Newton Center 25 1 South Yarmouth 25 3 Agawam 24 7 Amesbury 24 4 Easthampton 24 4 Natick 24 8 Plainville 24 2 Kingston 23 3 Monson 23 2 North Easton 23 3 South Boston 23 8 Wayland 23 3 Assonet 22 2 Clinton 22 3 Danvers 22 6 Hubbardston 22 1 Millbury 22 3 Mashpee 21 3 North Brookfield 21 1 Belchertown 20 3 Brewster 20 2 Eastham 20 1 Marion 20 1 North Reading 20 3 Whitman 20 3 East Boston 19 8 Hadley 19 1 Hanson 19 2 Lunenburg 19 2 Northbridge 19 3 West Roxbury 19 6 Acton 18 4 Milton 18 5 North Billerica 18 2 Rochdale 18 2 Roxbury Crossing 18 11 Swansea 18 3 Wrentham 18 2 Carver 17 2 Dudley 17 2 East Falmouth 17 1 North Andover 17 5 North Attleborough 17 5 Pepperell 17 2 Arlington 16 7 Chatham 16 1 Dedham 16 4 Hopedale 16 1 Methuen 16 8 Pembroke 16 3 Scituate 16 3 Shrewsbury 16 6 Bourne 15 3 Charlton 15 2 East Taunton 15 1 Groveland 15 1 Dighton 14 1 Hanover 14 2 Ludlow 14 3 Medford 14 8 Northampton 14 4 Rockport 14 1 South Weymouth 14 8 Amherst 13 5 Ayer 13 1 Boston 13 84 Duxbury 13 2 East Weymouth 13 7 Hopkinton 13 2 Needham 13 4 Stoneham 13 3 Wareham 13 3 Westford 13 3 Auburn 12 2 Bellingham 12 2 Belmont 12 3 Fairhaven 12 2 Mansfield 12 3 North Grafton 12 1 Rutland 12 1 Salisbury 12 1 South Attleboro 12 1 South Hamilton 12 1 Templeton 12 1 Wakefield 12 3 Williamstown 12 1 Chelmsford 11 4 Douglas 11 1 Holden 11 2 Melrose 11 3 Sutton 11 1 Auburndale 10 1 Fayville 10 1 North Chelmsford 10 1 Norton 10 2 Cherry Valley 9 1 Hingham 9 2 Brookline 8 5 Norfolk 8 1 Palmer 8 1 Reading 8 2 Wilmington 8 2 Holliston 7 1 Ipswich 7 1 Northborough 7 1 Oxford 7 1 Swampscott 7 1 West Newton 7 1 Falmouth 6 2 Needham Heights 6 2 Westwood 6 1 Newburyport 5 1 Winthrop 5 1 E. Boston 4 2 North Dartmouth 4 1 Onset 4 1 Sandwich 4 1 Lexington 3 1 Newton 3 3 Wellesley 3 1 Wellesley Hills 3 1 South Dartmouth 2 1 Newton Highlands 1 1 Newton Lower Falls 1 1 North Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 133 span 0 3 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 Hampden 443 315 Plymouth 430 186 Bristol 340 280 Berkshire 309 50 Worcester 297 331 Essex 281 309 Norfolk 278 237 Suffolk 268 530 Franklin 265 28 Middlesex 240 562 Hampshire 233 43 Barnstable 186 36 Dukes 97 4 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/.