Filings Week Ending 2022 July 30

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-07-24 Search Period End: 2022-07-30 Earliest Case: 2022-07-25 Latest Case: 2022-07-29 Total Cases: 661 Total Transfers: 18 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 26.8% Of those, percentage pro se: 55.9% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: North Truro Least stable with 10+ filings: Fitchburg Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Barnstable Cases per day: 110 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 central 115 17.4% western 114 17.2% northeast 98 14.8% southeast 96 14.5% metro_south 81 12.3% eastern 78 11.8% brockton district 11 1.7% framingham district 6 0.9% fall river district 5 0.8% malden district 5 0.8% pittsfield district 5 0.8% lynn district 4 0.6% chelsea district 3 0.5% orleans district 3 0.5% quincy district 3 0.5% salem district 3 0.5% wrentham district 3 0.5% bmc west roxbury 2 0.3% fallmouth district 2 0.3% haverhill district 2 0.3% new bedford district 2 0.3% westfield district 2 0.3% barnstable district 1 0.2% bmc brighton 1 0.2% bmc east boston 1 0.2% brookline district 1 0.2% cambridge district 1 0.2% chicopee district 1 0.2% concord district 1 0.2% eastern hampshire district 1 0.2% lowell district 1 0.2% milford district 1 0.2% nantucket district 1 0.2% natick district 1 0.2% newton district 1 0.2% somerville district 1 0.2% springfield district 1 0.2% stoughton district 1 0.2% waltham district 1 0.2% woburn district 1 0.2% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 484 2 Natural Person 177 659 Total 661 661 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 73.2% 0.3% Natural Person 26.8% 99.7% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 475 9 484 Optional 78 99 177 Total 553 108 661 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 71.9% 1.4% 73.2% Optional 11.8% 15.0% 26.8% Total 83.7% 16.3% 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 9 650 659 Total 9 652 661 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.3% 0.3% Optional 1.4% 98.3% 99.7% Total 1.4% 98.6% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 47 7.1% 1 496 75.0% 2 95 14.4% 3 16 2.4% 4 5 0.8% 5 1 0.2% 9 1 0.2% Total 661 100.0% 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 424 64.1% Cause 139 21.0% No Fault 93 14.1% Foreclosure 5 0.8% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count North Truro 249 5 Pocasset 103 3 Fiskdale 97 3 Lakeville 66 7 Fitchburg 59 24 East Sandwich 57 2 Harwich Port 57 1 Bellingham 55 9 East Taunton 46 3 West Dennis 45 1 Framingham 40 28 North Falmouth 37 1 Randolph 37 12 Seekonk 36 5 Chatham 32 2 Dennis Port 31 1 Brewster 30 3 Buzzards Bay 29 1 Fall River 28 25 Osterville 28 1 South Dennis 27 1 Westwood 27 4 Quincy 26 24 Gardner 24 5 Weymouth 24 13 Avon 22 1 Forestdale 22 1 Millbury 22 3 Winchendon 19 2 Brockton 18 17 Worcester 18 34 East Falmouth 17 1 Foxborough 17 3 Hopedale 16 1 New Bedford 15 15 Dalton 14 1 Leominster 14 6 Hingham 13 3 Whitman 13 2 North Dartmouth 12 3 North Grafton 12 1 Plainville 12 1 Rutland 12 1 Blackstone 11 1 Bridgewater 11 3 Rockland 11 2 Southbridge 11 2 Stoughton 11 3 Marlborough 10 4 Southwick 10 1 Westborough 10 2 Falmouth 9 3 Holbrook 9 1 Lunenburg 9 1 Nantucket 9 1 South Easton 9 1 Middleborough 8 2 Pittsfield 8 4 Centerville 7 1 Everett 7 3 Kingston 7 1 Mashpee 7 1 Northborough 7 1 Salem 7 3 Natick 6 2 Norwood 6 2 Hyde Park 5 2 Norton 5 1 Plymouth 5 3 Taunton 5 3 Acton 4 1 Ludlow 4 1 Onset 4 1 Sandwich 4 1 Walpole 4 1 Wareham 4 1 Brookline 3 2 Franklin 3 1 Haverhill 3 2 Lynn 3 3 Malden 3 2 Milford 3 1 North Attleborough 3 1 Revere 3 2 Saugus 3 1 West Roxbury 3 1 Attleborough 2 1 Chelsea 2 1 Dorchester Center 2 2 E. Boston 2 1 Westfield 2 1 Woburn 2 1 Chicopee 1 1 East Weymouth 1 1 Lowell 1 2 Newton Highlands 1 1 Somerville 1 1 Springfield 1 3 Waltham 1 1 (not given) 0 286 Cambridge 0 1 Providence 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 Barnstable 155 30 Plymouth 97 42 Norfolk 91 78 Worcester 79 88 Bristol 70 58 Berkshire 30 5 Nantucket 28 1 Middlesex 20 47 Hampden 9 7 Essex 8 9 Suffolk 4 9 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/.