Filings Week Ending 2022 April 30

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-04-24 Search Period End: 2022-04-30 Earliest Case: 2022-04-25 Latest Case: 2022-04-29 Total Cases: 476 Total Transfers: 26 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 33.8% Of those, percentage pro se: 55.3% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: South Lancaster Least stable with 10+ filings: Randolph Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Nantucket Cases per day: 79 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 104 21.8% western 80 16.8% eastern 70 14.7% central 63 13.2% southeast 43 9.0% metro_south 37 7.8% quincy district 11 2.3% haverhill district 8 1.7% lynn district 7 1.5% newburyport district 6 1.3% somerville district 5 1.1% salem district 4 0.8% fall river district 3 0.6% peabody district 3 0.6% waltham district 3 0.6% brockton district 2 0.4% dedham district 2 0.4% lawrence district 2 0.4% malden district 2 0.4% milford district 2 0.4% nantucket district 2 0.4% new bedford district 2 0.4% newton district 2 0.4% northern berkshire district 2 0.4% ayer district 1 0.2% brookline district 1 0.2% chelsea district 1 0.2% edgartown district 1 0.2% lowell district 1 0.2% palmer district 1 0.2% pittsfield district 1 0.2% uxbridge district 1 0.2% westfield district 1 0.2% woburn district 1 0.2% wrentham district 1 0.2% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 315 1 Natural Person 161 475 Total 476 476 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 66.2% 0.2% Natural Person 33.8% 99.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 308 7 315 Optional 72 89 161 Total 380 96 476 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 64.7% 1.5% 66.2% Optional 15.1% 18.7% 33.8% Total 79.8% 20.2% 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 1 1 Optional 9 466 475 Total 9 467 476 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.2% 0.2% Optional 1.9% 97.9% 99.8% Total 1.9% 98.1% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 41 8.6% 1 345 72.5% 2 76 16.0% 3 9 1.9% 4 4 0.8% 5 1 0.2% Total 476 100.0% 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 303 63.7% Cause 99 20.8% No Fault 69 14.5% Foreclosure 5 1.1% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count South Lancaster 61 1 Phillipston 59 1 Randolph 34 11 Chelsea 28 10 East Boston 27 11 Marlborough 25 10 Edgartown 24 1 North Adams 21 3 North Brookfield 21 1 Framingham 20 14 Gardner 19 4 Lenox 19 1 Nantucket 19 2 Bridgewater 18 5 Cherry Valley 18 2 Webster 17 3 East Taunton 15 1 New Bedford 15 15 Clinton 14 2 Dorchester 14 13 Fall River 14 13 Northborough 14 2 Haverhill 13 8 Roslindale 13 4 Amesbury 12 2 Plainville 12 1 Grafton 11 2 Lynn 11 10 Stoughton 11 3 Townsend 11 1 Beverly 10 4 North Chelmsford 10 1 Norwood 10 3 Westborough 10 2 Brockton 9 9 Fitchburg 9 4 Hull 9 1 Natick 9 3 South Easton 9 1 Winchendon 9 1 Carver 8 1 Lynnfield 8 1 Mattapan 8 3 Middleborough 8 2 Hanover 7 1 Hyannis 7 1 Marshfield 7 2 Mashpee 7 1 Milton 7 2 Uxbridge 7 1 West Newton 7 1 Abington 6 1 Brighton 6 3 Franklin 6 2 Quincy 6 6 Waltham 6 4 Charlestown 5 1 East Weymouth 5 3 Foxborough 5 1 Medford 5 3 Norton 5 1 Revere 5 3 Rockland 5 1 Sharon 5 1 Southbridge 5 1 Winthrop 5 1 Cambridge 4 5 Dedham 4 1 Leominster 4 2 Ludlow 4 1 North Dartmouth 4 1 Pittsfield 4 2 Salem 4 2 Wareham 4 1 Worcester 4 8 Allston 3 1 Danvers 3 1 Dorchester Center 3 3 Malden 3 2 Milford 3 1 North Andover 3 1 Peabody 3 2 Roxbury 3 2 Somerville 3 3 South Weymouth 3 2 Taunton 3 2 Billerica 2 1 Braintree 2 1 Hyde Park 2 1 Lawrence 2 2 Lowell 2 3 Methuen 2 1 South Boston 2 1 Westfield 2 1 Woburn 2 1 Brookline 1 1 Newton Highlands 1 1 Roxbury Crossing 1 1 Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 178 Boston 0 5 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 56 2 Plymouth 55 24 Norfolk 45 39 Bristol 41 34 Berkshire 37 6 Worcester 34 38 Suffolk 31 63 Essex 30 34 Dukes 24 1 Middlesex 22 53 Barnstable 10 2 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. 2022-05: Correct counting error in 'By prevailing party' section where agreement for judgment renders prevailing party unknown. Rows now sum to total. -- When Citing This Work, Please Credit: MassLandlords, Inc. Available online at https://masslandlords.net/policy/eviction-data/.