Filings Week Ending 2022 July 23

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-07-17 Search Period End: 2022-07-23 Earliest Case: 2022-07-18 Latest Case: 2022-07-22 Total Cases: 691 Total Transfers: 20 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 31.1% Of those, percentage pro se: 47.0% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: West Warren Least stable with 10+ filings: Westborough Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Plymouth Cases per day: 115 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 145 21.0% central 112 16.2% eastern 97 14.0% southeast 94 13.6% western 94 13.6% metro_south 58 8.4% quincy district 10 1.4% fall river district 7 1.0% salem district 7 1.0% lynn district 6 0.9% springfield district 6 0.9% brockton district 4 0.6% cambridge district 4 0.6% lowell district 4 0.6% waltham district 4 0.6% attleboro district 3 0.4% haverhill district 3 0.4% malden district 3 0.4% woburn district 3 0.4% bmc east boston 2 0.3% bmc west roxbury 2 0.3% chelsea district 2 0.3% dedham district 2 0.3% northern berkshire district 2 0.3% somerville district 2 0.3% worcester district 2 0.3% wrentham district 2 0.3% chicopee district 1 0.1% concord district 1 0.1% framingham district 1 0.1% gardner district court 1 0.1% hingham district 1 0.1% nantucket district 1 0.1% new bedford district 1 0.1% palmer district 1 0.1% uxbridge district 1 0.1% wareham district 1 0.1% westfield district 1 0.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 476 0 Natural Person 215 691 Total 691 691 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 68.9% 0.0% Natural Person 31.1% 100.0% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 457 19 476 Optional 114 101 215 Total 571 120 691 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 66.1% 2.7% 68.9% Optional 16.5% 14.6% 31.1% Total 82.6% 17.4% 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 0 0 Optional 14 677 691 Total 14 677 691 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Optional 2.0% 98.0% 100.0% Total 2.0% 98.0% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 52 7.5% 1 490 70.9% 2 124 17.9% 3 19 2.7% 4 2 0.3% 5 4 0.6% Total 691 100.0% 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 364 52.7% Cause 181 26.2% No Fault 140 20.3% Foreclosure 6 0.9% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count West Warren 88 1 Westborough 71 13 Hull 58 6 New Bedford 52 50 West Wareham 46 1 Southbridge 35 6 Worcester 30 56 Whitinsville 28 2 Whitman 27 4 Bridgewater 26 7 Brockton 26 25 Gardner 24 5 Fall River 23 21 Norwood 20 6 Lunenburg 19 2 Rochester 19 1 Auburn 18 3 Barre 18 1 East Falmouth 17 1 Mendon 17 1 Spencer 17 2 Millbury 15 2 East Bridgewater 14 2 Braintree 13 5 Framingham 13 9 Lancaster 12 1 Plainville 12 1 Salem 12 5 Adams 11 1 Blackstone 11 1 Pembroke 11 2 Rockland 11 2 North Attleborough 10 3 Norton 10 2 Taunton 10 6 East Boston 9 4 Fitchburg 9 4 Franklin 9 3 Holbrook 9 1 Nantucket 9 1 Quincy 9 9 Weymouth 9 5 Carver 8 1 Clinton 7 1 Everett 7 3 Hyannis 7 1 North Adams 7 1 North Easton 7 1 Uxbridge 7 1 West Springfield 7 2 Abington 6 1 Ashland 6 1 Attleborough 6 3 Bellingham 6 1 Lynn 6 6 Randolph 6 2 Roslindale 6 2 Watertown 6 2 Beverly 5 2 Chelsea 5 2 Foxborough 5 1 Hyde Park 5 2 Marlborough 5 2 Somerset 5 1 Winthrop 5 1 Woburn 5 2 Arlington 4 2 Belmont 4 1 E. Boston 4 2 Haverhill 4 3 Leominster 4 2 Lowell 4 5 Mansfield 4 1 Middleborough 4 1 North Dartmouth 4 1 Onset 4 1 Stoneham 4 1 Cambridge 3 4 Dorchester 3 3 Lexington 3 1 Marshfield 3 1 Revere 3 2 South Dartmouth 2 1 Westfield 2 1 Chicopee 1 1 East Weymouth 1 1 Medford 1 1 Peabody 1 1 South Weymouth 1 1 Springfield 1 2 Waltham 1 1 (not given) 0 324 Boston 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 Plymouth 127 55 Bristol 109 90 Worcester 93 104 Norfolk 42 36 Nantucket 28 1 Essex 15 17 Middlesex 15 35 Berkshire 12 2 Barnstable 10 2 Suffolk 9 19 Hampden 8 6 Dukes 0 0 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/.