Filings Month Ending 2025 June 30

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2025-06-01 Search Period End: 2025-06-30 Earliest Case: 2025-06-02 Latest Case: 2025-06-30 Total Cases: 2977 Total Transfers: 54 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 21.8% Of those, percentage pro se: 50.0% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Wheelwright Least stable with 10+ filings: Springfield Least stable with 100+ filings: Springfield Least stable county: Hampden Cases per day: 102 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 605 20.3% northeast 543 18.2% central 446 15.0% western 419 14.1% southeast 312 10.5% metro_south 287 9.6% malden district 33 1.1% lynn district 25 0.8% lawrence district 24 0.8% quincy district 22 0.7% fall river district 17 0.6% haverhill district 14 0.5% cambridge district 13 0.4% bmc east boston 12 0.4% springfield district 12 0.4% waltham district 12 0.4% chelsea district 11 0.4% bmc west roxbury 10 0.3% brockton district 10 0.3% lowell district 10 0.3% newburyport district 10 0.3% worcester district 10 0.3% somerville district 9 0.3% pittsfield district 8 0.3% barnstable district 7 0.2% dedham district 7 0.2% framingham district 7 0.2% northern berkshire district 7 0.2% attleboro district 6 0.2% bmc roxbury 6 0.2% bmc central 5 0.2% peabody district 5 0.2% salem district 5 0.2% bmc dorchester 4 0.1% newton district 4 0.1% orleans district 4 0.1% plymouth district 4 0.1% woburn district 4 0.1% edgartown district 3 0.1% fallmouth district 3 0.1% hingham district 3 0.1% milford district 3 0.1% bmc brighton 2 0.1% stoughton district 2 0.1% wrentham district 2 0.1% concord district 1 0.0% fitchburg district 1 0.0% gardner district court 1 0.0% gloucester district 1 0.0% holyoke district 1 0.0% nantucket district 1 0.0% new bedford district 1 0.0% southern berkshire district 1 0.0% wareham district 1 0.0% westfield district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 2327 3 Natural Person 650 2974 Total 2977 2977 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 78.2% 0.1% Natural Person 21.8% 99.9% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 2299 28 2327 Optional 325 325 650 Total 2624 353 2977 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 77.2% 0.9% 78.2% Optional 10.9% 10.9% 21.8% Total 88.1% 11.9% 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 3 3 Optional 25 2949 2974 Total 25 2952 2977 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% Optional 0.8% 99.1% 99.9% Total 0.8% 99.2% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 98 3.3% 1 2096 70.4% 2 636 21.4% 3 101 3.4% 4 35 1.2% 5 7 0.2% 6 3 0.1% 7 1 0.0% Total 2977 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 2115 71.0% Cause 493 16.6% No Fault 339 11.4% Foreclosure 30 1.0% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Wheelwright 305 1 Chestnut Hill 188 4 Gilbertville 173 2 Blandford 162 2 Leyden 140 1 Springfield 140 215 Lanesborough 129 4 South Dennis 108 4 Framingham 102 70 Whitinsville 100 7 Norwood 97 28 Turners Falls 97 4 Southbridge 95 16 Dennis Port 94 3 Lynn 94 85 Dorchester 93 86 Worcester 93 170 Everett 88 37 North Adams 87 12 Athol 86 10 Hyannis 85 12 Chelsea 82 29 Holyoke 82 33 Mattapan 82 30 Brockton 81 76 Lowell 80 86 Malden 80 48 Bridgewater 79 21 Indian Orchard 79 8 Hyde Park 77 26 Millers Falls 77 1 Fall River 74 66 Fitchburg 74 30 Lawrence 74 57 New Bedford 74 71 Amesbury 73 12 Roxbury 73 44 Marlborough 72 28 Randolph 71 23 Haverhill 68 42 Revere 65 34 North Brookfield 64 3 Taunton 62 35 Westhampton 62 1 Woburn 62 24 Hopkinton 60 9 Middleborough 60 14 Ware 60 6 Allston 58 17 Hull 58 6 Tewksbury 58 17 Quincy 56 52 South Boston 56 19 Pittsfield 55 25 Burlington 53 13 Brighton 52 23 Vineyard Haven 52 1 Canton 51 11 Greenfield 51 9 Milford 50 14 Gardner 49 10 Roslindale 48 14 Salem 48 20 Somerville 48 37 Adams 47 4 Chicopee 47 26 Foxborough 47 8 West Townsend 47 1 East Boston 46 19 West Roxbury 45 14 Dorchester Center 44 41 Oak Bluffs 44 2 Stoughton 44 12 Townsend 44 4 Abington 43 7 Great Barrington 42 3 Jamaica Plain 42 16 Spencer 42 5 West Springfield 42 12 Webster 41 7 Eastham 40 2 Watertown 40 13 Braintree 39 14 South Easton 39 4 Cambridge 38 41 Hadley 38 2 Orange 38 3 Westfield 38 16 Bedford 37 5 Dracut 37 11 Holbrook 37 4 Lakeville 37 4 Melrose 37 10 Peabody 37 19 Waltham 37 23 Oxford 36 5 Shrewsbury 36 13 Wellfleet 36 1 West Tisbury 36 1 Dudley 35 4 Mashpee 35 5 Plympton 35 1 Belchertown 34 5 Feeding Hills 34 4 Three Rivers 34 1 Duxbury 33 5 Provincetown 33 1 Attleborough 32 14 East Wareham 32 7 Fiskdale 32 1 Fairhaven 31 5 North Andover 31 9 Charlton 30 4 Groveland 30 2 Brookfield 29 1 Buzzards Bay 29 1 Charlestown 29 5 Dalton 29 2 Hatfield 29 1 Maynard 29 3 Medford 28 16 E. Boston 27 11 Hingham 27 6 Leicester 27 3 Sunderland 27 1 Wrentham 27 3 Chelmsford 26 9 Halifax 26 2 Beverly 25 10 Sterling 25 2 Ashland 24 4 Bellingham 24 4 Harwich 24 3 Palmer 24 3 Plainville 24 2 Salisbury 24 2 Plymouth 23 13 Danvers 22 6 Forestdale 22 1 Hubbardston 22 1 Wareham 22 5 Weymouth 22 12 Hanover 21 3 Seekonk 21 3 Westborough 21 4 Bourne 20 4 Boxborough 20 1 Dedham 20 5 East Weymouth 20 11 Marion 20 1 Marstons Mills 20 1 Whitman 20 3 Boston 19 120 Hanson 19 2 Lenox 19 1 Leominster 19 8 Warren 19 1 Winchendon 19 2 Acton 18 4 Andover 18 6 Cherry Valley 18 2 South Weymouth 18 10 West Yarmouth 18 1 Billerica 17 7 East Falmouth 17 1 Gloucester 17 5 Lynnfield 17 2 Rowley 17 1 Sharon 17 3 South Yarmouth 17 2 Southampton 17 1 Tyngsborough 17 2 Granby 16 1 Mattapoisett 16 1 Orleans 16 1 Berkley 15 1 Franklin 15 5 Kingston 15 2 Medway 15 2 Millbury 15 2 Newbury 15 1 Norton 15 3 Roxbury Crossing 15 9 Arlington 14 6 Clinton 14 2 Dighton 14 1 Methuen 14 7 Rockport 14 1 Sandwich 14 3 Swampscott 14 2 Uxbridge 14 2 Wilbraham 14 2 Cohasset 13 1 North Reading 13 2 Shirley 13 1 Stoneham 13 3 Upton 13 1 West Boylston 13 1 Auburn 12 2 Belmont 12 3 East Templeton 12 1 Georgetown 12 1 Lexington 12 4 North Grafton 12 1 Rutland 12 1 Templeton 12 1 Wakefield 12 3 Walpole 12 3 Westport 12 2 Blackstone 11 1 Littleton 11 1 Pembroke 11 2 Rockland 11 2 Saugus 11 3 Scituate 11 2 Somerset 11 2 South Hadley 11 2 Winthrop 11 2 Agawam 10 3 Amherst 10 4 North Attleborough 10 3 North Chelmsford 10 1 Southborough 10 1 Southwick 10 1 Ludlow 9 2 Lunenburg 9 1 Nantucket 9 1 Natick 9 3 North Billerica 9 1 Onset 9 2 Mansfield 8 2 Norfolk 8 1 North Dartmouth 8 2 Reading 8 2 Marshfield 7 2 Northborough 7 1 Raynham 7 1 Brookline 6 4 East Longmeadow 6 1 Easthampton 6 1 Longmeadow 6 1 Northbridge 6 1 Concord 5 1 Holden 5 1 Hudson 5 1 Marblehead 5 1 Newburyport 5 1 Westford 4 1 Winchester 4 1 Milton 3 1 Needham Heights 3 1 North Weymouth 3 2 Wellesley 3 1 Barnstable 2 1 South Dartmouth 2 1 Newton 1 1 Newton Highlands 1 1 (not given) 0 106 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 Hampden 464 330 Plymouth 437 189 Berkshire 316 51 Worcester 310 346 Suffolk 283 559 Essex 268 295 Norfolk 266 227 Bristol 262 216 Barnstable 243 47 Middlesex 239 559 Franklin 180 19 Hampshire 130 24 Dukes 97 4 Nantucket 28 1 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/.