Filings Quarter Ending 2023 December 31

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2023-10-01 Search Period End: 2023-12-31 Earliest Case: 2023-10-02 Latest Case: 2023-12-29 Total Cases: 9604 Total Transfers: 220 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 23.1% Of those, percentage pro se: 54.6% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Florence Least stable with 10+ filings: Florence Least stable with 100+ filings: Holyoke Least stable county: Hampden Cases per day: 105 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 1651 17.2% eastern 1624 16.9% central 1485 15.5% western 1437 15.0% southeast 1062 11.1% metro_south 976 10.2% malden district 157 1.6% lawrence district 108 1.1% quincy district 102 1.1% chelsea district 75 0.8% lynn district 75 0.8% bmc west roxbury 62 0.6% pittsfield district 57 0.6% lowell district 56 0.6% brockton district 52 0.5% cambridge district 44 0.5% fall river district 41 0.4% somerville district 38 0.4% northern berkshire district 34 0.4% haverhill district 32 0.3% waltham district 30 0.3% woburn district 26 0.3% attleboro district 22 0.2% framingham district 20 0.2% springfield district 20 0.2% salem district 19 0.2% dedham district 16 0.2% newton district 16 0.2% bmc east boston 15 0.2% chicopee district 14 0.1% fallmouth district 14 0.1% holyoke district 14 0.1% peabody district 14 0.1% bmc dorchester 13 0.1% milford district 13 0.1% wrentham district 13 0.1% newburyport district 12 0.1% new bedford district 11 0.1% ayer district 10 0.1% concord district 10 0.1% orleans district 8 0.1% bmc brighton 7 0.1% bmc roxbury 7 0.1% hingham district 7 0.1% plymouth district 7 0.1% stoughton district 7 0.1% westfield district 7 0.1% worcester district 7 0.1% eastern hampshire district 6 0.1% edgartown district 6 0.1% gloucester district 6 0.1% uxbridge district 6 0.1% bmc central 5 0.1% taunton district 5 0.1% barnstable district 4 0.0% wareham district 4 0.0% fitchburg district 3 0.0% natick district 2 0.0% orange district 2 0.0% palmer district 2 0.0% southern berkshire district 2 0.0% east brookfield district 1 0.0% greenfield district 1 0.0% ipswich district 1 0.0% nantucket district 1 0.0% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 7389 18 Natural Person 2215 9586 Total 9604 9604 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 76.9% 0.2% Natural Person 23.1% 99.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 7250 139 7389 Optional 1005 1210 2215 Total 8255 1349 9604 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 75.5% 1.4% 76.9% Optional 10.5% 12.6% 23.1% Total 86.0% 14.0% 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 18 18 Optional 72 9514 9586 Total 72 9532 9604 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.2% 0.2% Optional 0.7% 99.1% 99.8% Total 0.7% 99.3% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 321 3.3% 1 7012 73.0% 2 1875 19.5% 3 303 3.2% 4 62 0.6% 5 20 0.2% 6 6 0.1% 7 5 0.1% Total 9604 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 6965 72.5% Cause 1439 15.0% No Fault 1111 11.6% Foreclosure 84 0.9% Unknown/Other 5 0.1% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Florence 2109 20 New Ashford 877 2 Charlemont 473 6 Chestnut Hill 423 9 West Barnstable 354 10 Holyoke 353 141 Randolph 339 109 Canton 329 71 New Bedford 322 307 Springfield 319 489 Chelsea 304 107 Worcester 297 539 Dorchester 296 273 Framingham 292 200 Turners Falls 292 12 Fitchburg 280 113 Norwood 276 79 Fall River 275 245 West Warren 264 3 North Adams 262 36 Chicopee 258 143 Webster 256 43 Lawrence 254 194 Marlborough 254 98 Mattapan 254 93 Lowell 242 258 Southbridge 239 40 Hyde Park 227 76 Revere 226 117 Roslindale 221 64 Roxbury 214 128 Gardner 212 43 Berlin 209 6 Indian Orchard 208 21 East Falmouth 207 12 Brockton 203 191 Everett 203 85 Westborough 202 37 Braintree 195 70 Pittsfield 194 87 Quincy 193 179 Cheshire 185 6 Leominster 181 74 Stoughton 178 48 Adams 176 15 Athol 172 20 Taunton 171 96 Hyannis 170 24 Plainville 169 14 Erving 166 3 Lynn 162 147 South Dennis 162 6 Bridgewater 161 43 Mansfield 159 37 Dennis Port 158 5 Abington 156 25 Plainfield 154 1 West Springfield 154 44 Salem 152 63 Haverhill 151 92 Middleborough 151 35 Foxborough 148 25 Malden 148 88 Milford 146 41 Buzzards Bay 145 5 Cambridge 145 153 Thorndike 144 1 Whitinsville 144 10 Greenfield 143 25 North Chatham 142 1 Shirley 138 10 Charlestown 137 23 Three Rivers 136 4 Allston 133 39 Rockland 131 23 Dorchester Center 129 119 Newton Center 128 5 Woburn 128 49 Orange 127 10 Raynham 127 17 Charlton 123 16 Edgartown 122 5 Weymouth 120 65 Feeding Hills 119 14 Jamaica Plain 117 44 South Easton 117 12 Chilmark 115 1 Palmer 115 14 Attleborough 114 50 Cummington 114 1 East Boston 113 46 Hopkinton 113 17 Franklin 110 35 Whitman 110 16 Buckland 105 2 Kingston 102 13 Somerville 102 78 Spencer 102 12 Hinsdale 98 2 Brighton 95 42 Peabody 93 48 West Wareham 92 2 East Brookfield 91 2 Wrentham 91 10 Cataumet 88 1 Nahant 87 3 Gilbertville 86 1 South Yarmouth 86 10 Northborough 84 12 North Attleborough 83 24 Acton 82 18 Methuen 82 39 Melrose 81 22 Sunderland 81 3 Dedham 80 20 Holland 80 2 Waltham 80 49 Cohasset 79 6 Royalston 79 1 Sudbury 79 14 West Roxbury 78 24 Blackstone 77 7 Millers Falls 77 1 Warren 77 4 Watertown 75 24 Holbrook 74 8 Chelmsford 73 25 Clinton 73 10 East Wareham 73 16 Westfield 73 30 Dracut 71 21 Saugus 71 19 Maynard 69 7 Auburn 67 11 Ayer 67 5 Lee 67 4 Winchendon 67 7 Ashland 66 11 Oak Bluffs 66 3 Auburndale 65 6 Burlington 65 16 Marblehead 65 13 Medford 65 37 Danvers 64 17 North Brookfield 64 3 Wakefield 64 16 Granville 63 1 Marshfield 63 16 Natick 63 21 East Taunton 62 4 Easthampton 62 10 Hudson 62 12 Millville 62 2 Sharon 62 11 Walpole 62 15 Amesbury 61 10 Tyngsborough 61 7 Boxborough 60 3 Eastham 60 3 Millbury 60 8 Hull 58 6 Newtonville 57 3 Great Barrington 56 4 North Andover 56 16 North Billerica 56 6 Shelburne Falls 56 1 West Yarmouth 56 3 Tewksbury 55 16 North Chelmsford 54 5 West Falmouth 54 1 Beverly 53 21 Bondsville 53 1 Baldwinville 52 1 Dudley 52 6 Ludlow 52 11 Pepperell 52 6 Vineyard Haven 52 1 Oxford 51 7 Plymouth 51 29 Williamstown 51 4 Winthrop 51 9 Devens 49 1 Mashpee 49 7 Andover 48 16 Bellingham 48 8 Gloucester 48 14 South Boston 47 16 Westwood 47 7 Bernardston 46 1 Bedford 45 6 South Hadley 45 8 South Grafton 44 2 Uxbridge 44 6 Seekonk 43 6 Norton 42 8 Marstons Mills 41 2 Needham Heights 41 12 Brewster 40 4 Hingham 40 9 Lunenburg 39 4 Shrewsbury 39 14 Upton 39 3 Yarmouth Port 39 2 Agawam 38 11 Hadley 38 2 North Easton 38 5 Northampton 38 11 Roxbury Crossing 38 23 Barre 37 2 Fairhaven 37 6 North Falmouth 37 1 Stoneham 37 8 South Attleboro 36 3 Arlington 35 15 Byfield 35 1 Douglas 35 3 Billerica 34 14 Boston 33 209 Duxbury 33 5 Hardwick 33 1 Pembroke 33 6 Provincetown 33 1 Somerset 33 6 South Weymouth 33 18 Chatham 32 2 Fiskdale 32 1 Westport 32 5 Dunstable 31 1 Lexington 31 10 Medway 31 4 Northbridge 31 5 Southwick 31 3 Ipswich 30 4 Southborough 30 3 Ware 30 3 Wayland 30 4 Brookfield 29 1 Dalton 29 2 North Dartmouth 29 7 West Newton 29 4 Dighton 28 2 Essex 28 1 Osterville 28 1 Rockport 28 2 Belchertown 27 4 Brimfield 27 1 Brookline 27 16 Leicester 27 3 Rochdale 27 3 Sagamore 27 1 Sagamore Beach 27 1 Scituate 27 5 Wareham 27 6 West Brookfield 27 1 Westford 27 6 Carver 26 3 North Reading 26 4 West Boylston 26 2 Rutland 25 2 E. Boston 24 10 North Pembroke 24 1 Sandwich 24 5 Monson 23 2 Avon 22 1 Concord 22 4 East Weymouth 22 12 Falmouth 22 7 Newburyport 22 4 Townsend 22 2 Amherst 21 8 Hanover 21 3 Sturbridge 21 2 Swampscott 21 3 Wilbraham 21 3 Belmont 20 5 Bourne 20 4 Marion 20 1 Deerfield 19 1 East Longmeadow 19 3 Hampden 19 1 Hanson 19 2 Manchester 19 1 Nantucket 19 2 Cherry Valley 18 2 Lakeville 18 2 Milton 18 5 Dover 17 1 Rowley 17 1 Wellesley 17 5 Granby 16 1 Hopedale 16 1 Mattapoisett 16 1 Medfield 16 2 Newton Upper Falls 16 1 Orleans 16 1 South Lee 16 1 Groveland 15 1 Harvard 15 1 Stow 15 1 Bradford 14 2 Holliston 14 2 West Bridgewater 14 1 Wellesley Hills 13 4 Wilmington 13 3 East Templeton 12 1 Georgetown 12 1 Longmeadow 12 2 Millis 12 1 Reading 12 3 Salisbury 12 1 Swansea 12 2 Sutton 11 1 Needham 10 3 Acushnet 9 1 Wollaston 9 1 Easton 8 2 Groton 8 1 Harwich 8 1 Lynnfield 8 1 Rehoboth 8 1 South Dartmouth 8 3 West Harwich 8 1 East Bridgewater 7 1 Holden 5 1 North Weymouth 5 3 Onset 4 1 Winchester 4 1 East Walpole 3 1 Newton 3 3 Newton Highlands 2 2 E. Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 1194 span 0 13 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 1325 942 Plymouth 1070 462 Bristol 1032 849 Norfolk 1032 880 Worcester 1027 1144 Berkshire 1010 163 Suffolk 740 1462 Essex 668 735 Middlesex 639 1492 Barnstable 632 122 Franklin 616 65 Hampshire 374 69 Dukes 243 10 Nantucket 56 2 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/.