Filings Week Ending 2022 April 09

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-04-03 Search Period End: 2022-04-09 Earliest Case: 2022-04-04 Latest Case: 2022-04-08 Total Cases: 563 Total Transfers: 13 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 36.2% Of those, percentage pro se: 51.0% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: West Wareham Least stable with 10+ filings: Braintree Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Nantucket Cases per day: 93 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 100 17.8% eastern 96 17.1% central 88 15.6% western 73 13.0% metro_south 64 11.4% southeast 60 10.7% pittsfield district 9 1.6% peabody district 8 1.4% northern berkshire district 5 0.9% attleboro district 4 0.7% lynn district 4 0.7% malden district 4 0.7% newburyport district 4 0.7% quincy district 4 0.7% bmc west roxbury 3 0.5% salem district 3 0.5% bmc east boston 2 0.4% chelsea district 2 0.4% fall river district 2 0.4% lowell district 2 0.4% nantucket district 2 0.4% new bedford district 2 0.4% palmer district 2 0.4% plymouth district 2 0.4% somerville district 2 0.4% southern berkshire district 2 0.4% waltham district 2 0.4% worcester district 2 0.4% bmc south boston 1 0.2% brockton district 1 0.2% brookline district 1 0.2% dedham district 1 0.2% fallmouth district 1 0.2% haverhill district 1 0.2% orange district 1 0.2% stoughton district 1 0.2% woburn district 1 0.2% wrentham district 1 0.2% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 359 2 Natural Person 204 561 Total 563 563 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 63.8% 0.4% Natural Person 36.2% 99.6% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 348 11 359 Optional 100 104 204 Total 448 115 563 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 61.8% 2.0% 63.8% Optional 17.8% 18.5% 36.2% Total 79.6% 20.4% 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 10 551 561 Total 10 553 563 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.4% 0.4% Optional 1.8% 97.9% 99.6% Total 1.8% 98.2% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 48 8.5% 1 406 72.1% 2 85 15.1% 3 14 2.5% 4 6 1.1% 5 2 0.4% 6 2 0.4% Total 563 100.0% 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 294 52.2% No Fault 130 23.1% Cause 125 22.2% Foreclosure 14 2.5% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count West Wareham 92 2 South Egremont 72 1 Hinsdale 49 1 Nantucket 39 4 Whitman 34 5 Braintree 30 11 Princeton 29 1 Athol 25 3 Marlborough 25 10 Williamstown 25 2 Jamaica Plain 24 9 Brockton 23 22 Webster 23 4 Oak Bluffs 22 1 Hyannis 21 3 North Adams 21 3 Worcester 21 39 Gardner 19 4 Hull 19 2 Amesbury 18 3 West Yarmouth 18 1 Cambridge 17 18 Pittsfield 17 8 Roslindale 17 5 Southbridge 17 3 Lee 16 1 Peabody 15 8 Revere 15 8 Fall River 14 13 Northborough 14 2 Whitinsville 14 1 Attleborough 13 6 Canton 13 3 Halifax 13 1 New Bedford 13 13 North Attleborough 13 4 Rutland 12 1 Westport 12 2 South Boston 11 4 Sudbury 11 2 Winthrop 11 2 Allston 10 3 Beverly 10 4 Framingham 10 7 Lakeville 9 1 Leicester 9 1 Quincy 9 9 West Roxbury 9 3 Wrentham 9 1 Carver 8 1 Palmer 8 1 Spencer 8 1 Taunton 8 5 Tyngsborough 8 1 Dorchester 7 7 Everett 7 3 Fitchburg 7 3 Leominster 7 3 Mashpee 7 1 Medford 7 4 Millbury 7 1 Plymouth 7 4 Raynham 7 1 South Weymouth 7 4 Stoughton 7 2 Wilbraham 7 1 Abington 6 1 Ashland 6 1 Auburn 6 1 Brighton 6 3 Dorchester Center 6 6 Lynn 6 6 Needham 6 2 Norwood 6 2 Roxbury 6 4 Charlestown 5 1 Chelsea 5 2 Hyde Park 5 2 Mattapan 5 2 Norton 5 1 Rockland 5 1 Somerset 5 1 Dedham 4 1 East Wareham 4 1 Mansfield 4 1 Onset 4 1 Bridgewater 3 1 Danvers 3 1 Franklin 3 1 Malden 3 2 Randolph 3 1 Waltham 3 2 East Boston 2 1 Lowell 2 3 Methuen 2 1 Salem 2 1 South Dartmouth 2 1 Woburn 2 1 Boston 1 9 East Weymouth 1 1 Haverhill 1 1 Lawrence 1 1 Roxbury Crossing 1 1 Somerville 1 1 Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 183 span 0 1 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 Nantucket 113 4 Berkshire 99 16 Plymouth 99 43 Worcester 61 68 Bristol 58 48 Norfolk 45 39 Suffolk 36 72 Barnstable 25 5 Dukes 24 1 Essex 23 26 Middlesex 23 55 Hampden 2 2 Franklin 0 0 Hampshire 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. -- When Citing This Work, Please Credit: MassLandlords, Inc. Available online at https://masslandlords.net/policy/eviction-data/.