Filings Week Ending 2022 July 09

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-07-03 Search Period End: 2022-07-09 Earliest Case: 2022-07-04 Latest Case: 2022-07-08 Total Cases: 380 Total Transfers: 10 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 36.8% Of those, percentage pro se: 55.7% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Fiskdale Least stable with 10+ filings: New Bedford Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Plymouth Cases per day: 63 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 75 19.7% southeast 67 17.6% western 51 13.4% metro_south 49 12.9% eastern 41 10.8% central 40 10.5% malden district 10 2.6% attleboro district 7 1.8% bmc east boston 7 1.8% cambridge district 4 1.1% haverhill district 3 0.8% lynn district 3 0.8% chelsea district 2 0.5% pittsfield district 2 0.5% woburn district 2 0.5% wrentham district 2 0.5% bmc west roxbury 1 0.3% brockton district 1 0.3% dedham district 1 0.3% lowell district 1 0.3% milford district 1 0.3% natick district 1 0.3% new bedford district 1 0.3% northern berkshire district 1 0.3% orleans district 1 0.3% palmer district 1 0.3% quincy district 1 0.3% salem district 1 0.3% somerville district 1 0.3% waltham district 1 0.3% wareham district 1 0.3% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 240 0 Natural Person 140 380 Total 380 380 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 63.2% 0.0% Natural Person 36.8% 100.0% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 230 10 240 Optional 62 78 140 Total 292 88 380 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 60.5% 2.6% 63.2% Optional 16.3% 20.5% 36.8% Total 76.8% 23.2% 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 0 0 Optional 11 369 380 Total 11 369 380 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Optional 2.9% 97.1% 100.0% Total 2.9% 97.1% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 36 9.5% 1 268 70.5% 2 62 16.3% 3 10 2.6% 4 1 0.3% 5 2 0.5% 6 1 0.3% Total 380 100.0% 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 232 61.1% Cause 76 20.0% No Fault 71 18.7% Foreclosure 1 0.3% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Fiskdale 64 2 Rockland 34 6 Athol 25 3 Middleborough 25 6 New Bedford 24 23 Everett 23 10 Braintree 22 8 Eastham 20 1 Yarmouth Port 19 1 Stoughton 18 5 Wrentham 18 2 East Falmouth 17 1 Milford 17 5 Norwood 17 5 Winthrop 17 3 Attleborough 16 7 Mattapoisett 16 1 Hyannis 14 2 Abington 12 2 Brockton 12 12 Plainville 12 1 Randolph 12 4 Westborough 10 2 E. Boston 9 4 Fall River 9 8 Fitchburg 9 4 Leicester 9 1 Lunenburg 9 1 Rochdale 9 1 Wareham 9 2 Dedham 8 2 Harwich 8 1 Mansfield 8 2 Pittsfield 8 4 South Yarmouth 8 1 Taunton 8 5 Arlington 7 3 Clinton 7 1 Hanover 7 1 Holliston 7 1 Mashpee 7 1 North Adams 7 1 Raynham 7 1 Worcester 7 14 Fairhaven 6 1 Franklin 6 2 Foxborough 5 1 Greenfield 5 1 Marblehead 5 1 Marlborough 5 2 Weymouth 5 3 Belmont 4 1 Burlington 4 1 Framingham 4 3 Haverhill 4 3 North Dartmouth 4 1 Winchester 4 1 Dorchester 3 3 Gloucester 3 1 Marshfield 3 1 Milton 3 1 Natick 3 1 Needham 3 1 North Attleborough 3 1 Quincy 3 3 Revere 3 2 Roslindale 3 1 West Roxbury 3 1 Billerica 2 1 Brighton 2 1 Chelsea 2 1 Lynn 2 2 Salem 2 1 Shrewsbury 2 1 East Weymouth 1 1 Lawrence 1 1 Malden 1 1 Plymouth 1 1 Somerville 1 1 South Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 159 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 Plymouth 74 32 Bristol 59 49 Norfolk 46 40 Barnstable 41 8 Worcester 31 35 Berkshire 30 5 Middlesex 11 26 Franklin 9 1 Essex 8 9 Suffolk 8 16 Dukes 0 0 Hampden 0 0 Hampshire 0 0 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. -- When Citing This Work, Please Credit: MassLandlords, Inc. Available online at https://masslandlords.net/policy/eviction-data/.