Filings Week Ending 2022 August 20

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-08-14 Search Period End: 2022-08-20 Earliest Case: 2022-08-15 Latest Case: 2022-08-19 Total Cases: 751 Total Transfers: 16 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 32.1% Of those, percentage pro se: 49.8% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Gilbertville Least stable with 10+ filings: Fall River Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Nantucket Cases per day: 125 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 western 139 18.5% central 138 18.4% northeast 119 15.8% southeast 99 13.2% eastern 84 11.2% metro_south 49 6.5% lynn district 18 2.4% pittsfield district 14 1.9% fall river district 10 1.3% quincy district 10 1.3% brockton district 6 0.8% malden district 6 0.8% woburn district 6 0.8% attleboro district 3 0.4% bmc east boston 3 0.4% lowell district 3 0.4% northern berkshire district 3 0.4% waltham district 3 0.4% ayer district 2 0.3% bmc brighton 2 0.3% chelsea district 2 0.3% fallmouth district 2 0.3% framingham district 2 0.3% gloucester district 2 0.3% haverhill district 2 0.3% newton district 2 0.3% orleans district 2 0.3% palmer district 2 0.3% peabody district 2 0.3% salem district 2 0.3% springfield district 2 0.3% barnstable district 1 0.1% bmc central 1 0.1% bmc dorchester 1 0.1% cambridge district 1 0.1% clinton district 1 0.1% dedham district 1 0.1% eastern hampshire district 1 0.1% lawrence district 1 0.1% stoughton district 1 0.1% taunton district 1 0.1% uxbridge district 1 0.1% wrentham district 1 0.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 510 3 Natural Person 241 748 Total 751 751 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 67.9% 0.4% Natural Person 32.1% 99.6% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 497 13 510 Optional 121 120 241 Total 618 133 751 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 66.2% 1.7% 67.9% Optional 16.1% 16.0% 32.1% Total 82.3% 17.7% 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 1 2 3 Optional 12 736 748 Total 13 738 751 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.1% 0.3% 0.4% Optional 1.6% 98.0% 99.6% Total 1.7% 98.3% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 57 7.6% 1 548 73.0% 2 117 15.6% 3 17 2.3% 4 8 1.1% 5 1 0.1% 6 1 0.1% 8 1 0.1% 10 1 0.1% Total 751 100.0% 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 381 50.7% Cause 185 24.6% No Fault 175 23.3% Foreclosure 9 1.2% Unknown/Other 1 0.1% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Gilbertville 173 2 Thorndike 144 1 West Brookfield 81 3 Royalston 79 1 Whitinsville 72 5 Bondsville 53 1 Fall River 42 38 Norwood 41 12 Nantucket 39 4 Athol 34 4 Berlin 34 1 Fitchburg 34 14 Worcester 31 57 Brewster 30 3 New Bedford 30 29 East Sandwich 28 1 Pittsfield 26 12 Framingham 24 17 Gardner 24 5 Webster 23 4 North Adams 21 3 Brockton 20 19 East Freetown 20 1 Marstons Mills 20 1 North Reading 20 3 Lunenburg 19 2 Newtonville 19 1 Bridgewater 18 5 Lynn 18 17 East Falmouth 17 1 Rockland 17 3 Taunton 17 10 Winthrop 17 3 Attleborough 16 7 Hopedale 16 1 Mattapoisett 16 1 Medway 15 2 Hyannis 14 2 Uxbridge 14 2 West Bridgewater 14 1 Ayer 13 1 Cohasset 13 1 Upton 13 1 Westminster 13 1 Auburn 12 2 Marlborough 12 5 Randolph 12 4 Rutland 12 1 Blackstone 11 1 Dorchester Center 11 11 Everett 11 5 Quincy 10 10 Southborough 10 1 Woburn 10 4 Dorchester 9 9 Hull 9 1 Leominster 9 4 Burlington 8 2 Chelsea 8 3 Dudley 8 1 Groton 8 1 Hyde Park 8 3 Arlington 7 3 Clinton 7 1 Danvers 7 2 East Weymouth 7 4 Kingston 7 1 Mashpee 7 1 Melrose 7 2 Milton 7 2 North Easton 7 1 Plymouth 7 4 Revere 7 4 Stoughton 7 2 Swampscott 7 1 Fairhaven 6 1 Gloucester 6 2 Swansea 6 1 West Roxbury 6 2 Grafton 5 1 Hudson 5 1 Malden 5 3 Mattapan 5 2 Sharon 5 1 South Boston 5 2 South Hadley 5 1 Southbridge 5 1 Westborough 5 1 Middleborough 4 1 North Dartmouth 4 1 Sandwich 4 1 Stoneham 4 1 Walpole 4 1 Wareham 4 1 Franklin 3 1 Haverhill 3 2 Milford 3 1 Needham Heights 3 1 North Andover 3 1 North Attleborough 3 1 Peabody 3 2 Roslindale 3 1 Roxbury 3 2 Braintree 2 1 Cambridge 2 3 Chelmsford 2 1 E. Boston 2 1 East Boston 2 1 Jamaica Plain 2 1 Methuen 2 1 Salem 2 1 Shrewsbury 2 1 South Dartmouth 2 1 Boston 1 8 Lowell 1 2 Medford 1 1 Newton Lower Falls 1 1 Waltham 1 1 Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 287 span 0 2 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 Bristol 110 91 Worcester 106 119 Berkshire 92 15 Plymouth 85 37 Barnstable 51 10 Norfolk 50 43 Essex 26 29 Suffolk 26 53 Middlesex 24 58 Hampshire 5 1 Hampden 2 2 Dukes 0 0 Franklin 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/.