Filings Month Ending 2025 November 30

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2025-11-01 Search Period End: 2025-11-30 Earliest Case: 2025-11-03 Latest Case: 2025-11-28 Total Cases: 2982 Total Transfers: 51 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 21.3% Of those, percentage pro se: 54.7% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Florence Least stable with 10+ filings: Mattapan Least stable with 100+ filings: Dorchester 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 723 24.2% northeast 476 16.0% central 429 14.4% western 404 13.5% southeast 350 11.7% metro_south 258 8.7% malden district 33 1.1% quincy district 26 0.9% lawrence district 22 0.7% brockton district 21 0.7% cambridge district 19 0.6% springfield district 19 0.6% lynn district 18 0.6% fall river district 15 0.5% lowell district 15 0.5% chelsea district 14 0.5% bmc west roxbury 11 0.4% haverhill district 10 0.3% bmc dorchester 9 0.3% northern berkshire district 9 0.3% waltham district 8 0.3% barnstable district 7 0.2% dedham district 6 0.2% salem district 6 0.2% chicopee district 5 0.2% northampton district 5 0.2% pittsfield district 5 0.2% somerville district 5 0.2% plymouth district 4 0.1% woburn district 4 0.1% fallmouth district 3 0.1% hingham district 3 0.1% new bedford district 3 0.1% palmer district 3 0.1% peabody district 3 0.1% stoughton district 3 0.1% westfield district 3 0.1% bmc brighton 2 0.1% bmc east boston 2 0.1% brookline district 2 0.1% holyoke district 2 0.1% newburyport district 2 0.1% wareham district 2 0.1% worcester district 2 0.1% attleboro district 1 0.0% ayer district 1 0.0% bmc central 1 0.0% clinton district 1 0.0% edgartown district 1 0.0% gloucester district 1 0.0% natick district 1 0.0% newton district 1 0.0% orleans district 1 0.0% taunton district 1 0.0% wrentham district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 2346 2 Natural Person 636 2980 Total 2982 2982 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 78.7% 0.1% Natural Person 21.3% 99.9% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 2322 24 2346 Optional 288 348 636 Total 2610 372 2982 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 77.9% 0.8% 78.7% Optional 9.7% 11.7% 21.3% Total 87.5% 12.5% 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 2 2 Optional 16 2964 2980 Total 16 2966 2982 (%) 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 79 2.6% 1 2131 71.5% 2 604 20.3% 3 123 4.1% 4 31 1.0% 5 6 0.2% 6 5 0.2% 7 2 0.1% 8 1 0.0% Total 2982 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 2201 73.8% Cause 460 15.4% No Fault 297 10.0% Foreclosure 23 0.8% Unknown/Other 1 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Florence 316 3 Gilbertville 173 2 Mattapan 153 56 Buzzards Bay 145 5 Dorchester 135 125 Southbridge 125 21 Adams 117 10 Chilmark 115 1 Cummington 114 1 Springfield 114 175 Baldwinville 105 2 Fall River 104 93 Everett 103 43 Roxbury 100 60 Holyoke 95 38 Chestnut Hill 94 2 New Bedford 93 89 Randolph 93 30 West Dennis 91 2 Chelsea 88 31 Framingham 87 60 Norwood 83 24 Worcester 82 149 Marion 81 4 Roslindale 79 23 Revere 77 40 West Springfield 77 22 Fitchburg 76 31 Pelham 75 1 Saugus 75 20 East Boston 74 30 Lawrence 73 56 Turners Falls 73 3 South Boston 71 24 Indian Orchard 69 7 Jamaica Plain 69 26 Lowell 67 72 Somerville 66 50 Chicopee 65 36 Marlborough 64 25 North Brookfield 64 3 Taunton 64 36 Hyannis 63 9 Brockton 61 58 Cheshire 61 2 Ludlow 61 13 Yarmouth Port 59 3 Malden 58 35 Whitinsville 57 4 Littleton 56 5 Quincy 56 52 West Yarmouth 56 3 Braintree 55 20 Canton 55 12 Gardner 54 11 South Dennis 54 2 Sunderland 54 2 Webster 53 9 Cambridge 52 55 Athol 51 6 Greenfield 51 9 North Adams 51 7 Pittsfield 51 23 Stockbridge 51 1 Dorchester Center 50 46 Hanover 50 7 Millis 50 4 Easthampton 49 8 Palmer 49 6 Hanson 48 5 South Easton 48 5 Allston 47 14 Lynn 47 43 Woburn 47 18 Holbrook 46 5 Hopkinton 46 7 Monson 46 4 Bedford 45 6 Westford 45 10 Burlington 44 11 Chelmsford 44 15 Haverhill 44 27 Peabody 44 23 Sutton 44 4 Oxford 43 6 North Andover 42 12 West Roxbury 42 13 Shirley 41 3 Leominster 39 16 Attleborough 38 17 Hyde Park 38 13 Orange 38 3 Warren 38 2 Westborough 38 7 Wellfleet 36 1 Charlestown 35 6 Belchertown 34 5 Mansfield 34 8 South Yarmouth 34 4 Spencer 34 4 Westfield 34 14 Danvers 33 9 Provincetown 33 1 North Chelmsford 32 3 Waltham 32 20 Abington 31 5 Dennis Port 31 1 Medway 31 4 Salem 31 13 Bellingham 30 5 Middleborough 30 7 Wayland 30 4 Hull 29 3 Winchendon 29 3 Belmont 28 7 East Sandwich 28 1 Franklin 28 9 Great Barrington 28 2 Plymouth 28 16 Rockport 28 2 Wakefield 28 7 Beverly 27 11 Natick 27 9 Tewksbury 27 8 Weymouth 27 15 Bridgewater 26 7 Cohasset 26 2 Hudson 26 5 West Boylston 26 2 Stoughton 25 7 Williamstown 25 2 Lancaster 24 2 Plainville 24 2 Stoneham 23 5 Acton 22 5 Blackstone 22 2 Brighton 22 10 Clinton 22 3 Hingham 22 5 Millbury 22 3 Oak Bluffs 22 1 Raynham 22 3 Rockland 22 4 Wilmington 22 5 Arlington 21 9 Milford 21 6 Southwick 21 2 Swampscott 21 3 Watertown 21 7 Boxborough 20 1 Dedham 20 5 Eastham 20 1 Ware 20 2 East Harwich 19 1 Lexington 19 6 Maynard 19 2 Newtonville 19 1 Westport 19 3 Ashland 18 3 Auburn 18 3 East Wareham 18 4 Dover 17 1 East Falmouth 17 1 Northampton 17 5 Rowley 17 1 Tyngsborough 17 2 Ashburnham 16 1 Boston 16 99 Dracut 16 5 East Weymouth 16 9 Granby 16 1 Harwich 16 2 Medfield 16 2 Medford 16 9 Methuen 16 8 Sudbury 16 3 Amherst 15 6 Andover 15 5 Bourne 15 3 Charlton 15 2 Groveland 15 1 Ipswich 15 2 Marshfield 15 4 Merrimac 15 1 North Easton 15 2 Agawam 14 4 Billerica 14 6 Bradford 14 2 Dalton 14 1 East Bridgewater 14 2 Mashpee 14 2 Melrose 14 4 West Bridgewater 14 1 Ayer 13 1 Roxbury Crossing 13 8 Upton 13 1 Wellesley Hills 13 4 Whitman 13 2 Amesbury 12 2 North Dartmouth 12 3 Salisbury 12 1 Douglas 11 1 Foxborough 11 2 Grafton 11 2 Scituate 11 2 Sharon 11 2 Winthrop 11 2 Auburndale 10 1 Gloucester 10 3 Norton 10 2 Falmouth 9 3 Lunenburg 9 1 North Billerica 9 1 Norwell 9 1 Rochdale 9 1 South Weymouth 9 5 Wareham 9 2 Wrentham 9 1 Brookline 8 5 Dudley 8 1 Feeding Hills 8 1 Lynnfield 8 1 West Harwich 8 1 Centerville 7 1 Kingston 7 1 Seekonk 7 1 Wilbraham 7 1 Duxbury 6 1 East Longmeadow 6 1 Needham Heights 6 2 Swansea 6 1 Westwood 6 1 Dartmouth 5 2 Newburyport 5 1 Shrewsbury 5 2 Somerset 5 1 Onset 4 1 Reading 4 1 Sandwich 4 1 Milton 3 1 Needham 3 1 North Attleborough 3 1 Wellesley 3 1 Barnstable 2 1 E. Boston 2 1 Newton 2 2 North Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 118 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 455 324 Plymouth 328 142 Bristol 324 267 Suffolk 317 627 Berkshire 297 48 Worcester 281 313 Norfolk 276 236 Barnstable 253 49 Middlesex 238 557 Essex 224 247 Hampshire 173 32 Franklin 161 17 Dukes 48 2 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/.