Filings Week Ending 2022 September 10

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-09-04 Search Period End: 2022-09-10 Earliest Case: 2022-09-05 Latest Case: 2022-09-09 Total Cases: 632 Total Transfers: 10 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 30.5% Of those, percentage pro se: 65.8% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Florida Least stable with 10+ filings: South Yarmouth Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Barnstable Cases per day: 105 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 130 20.6% northeast 114 18.0% eastern 87 13.8% metro_south 82 13.0% central 81 12.8% southeast 68 10.8% lynn district 7 1.1% barnstable district 4 0.6% quincy district 4 0.6% salem district 4 0.6% waltham district 4 0.6% bmc east boston 3 0.5% haverhill district 3 0.5% wrentham district 3 0.5% attleboro district 2 0.3% ayer district 2 0.3% bmc brighton 2 0.3% cambridge district 2 0.3% chelsea district 2 0.3% fall river district 2 0.3% fallmouth district 2 0.3% framingham district 2 0.3% lowell district 2 0.3% malden district 2 0.3% northern berkshire district 2 0.3% plymouth district 2 0.3% somerville district 2 0.3% springfield district 2 0.3% stoughton district 2 0.3% chicopee district 1 0.2% clinton district 1 0.2% dedham district 1 0.2% milford district 1 0.2% new bedford district 1 0.2% orleans district 1 0.2% pittsfield district 1 0.2% woburn district 1 0.2% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 439 6 Natural Person 193 626 Total 632 632 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 69.5% 0.9% Natural Person 30.5% 99.1% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 422 17 439 Optional 66 127 193 Total 488 144 632 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 66.8% 2.7% 69.5% Optional 10.4% 20.1% 30.5% Total 77.2% 22.8% 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 6 6 Optional 6 620 626 Total 6 626 632 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.9% 0.9% Optional 0.9% 98.1% 99.1% Total 0.9% 99.1% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 68 10.8% 1 439 69.5% 2 90 14.2% 3 24 3.8% 4 10 1.6% 8 1 0.2% Total 632 100.0% 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 382 60.4% Cause 128 20.3% No Fault 115 18.2% Foreclosure 7 1.1% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Florida 132 1 South Yarmouth 103 12 Royalston 79 1 Harwich Port 57 1 East Taunton 46 3 Cohasset 39 3 Norwood 38 11 Hyannis 35 5 Winchendon 29 3 South Dennis 27 1 Brockton 25 24 Rutland 25 2 Framingham 23 16 Southbridge 23 4 Stoughton 22 6 Sturbridge 21 2 Yarmouth Port 19 1 East Weymouth 18 10 West Yarmouth 18 1 Foxborough 17 3 Fall River 16 15 Worcester 16 30 Millbury 15 2 Whitinsville 14 1 Ayer 13 1 Bellingham 12 2 Millis 12 1 Plainville 12 1 Swansea 12 2 Westport 12 2 Adams 11 1 Braintree 11 4 Rockland 11 2 Webster 11 2 Winthrop 11 2 New Bedford 10 10 Norton 10 2 Quincy 10 10 Canton 9 2 East Wareham 9 2 Fitchburg 9 4 Gardner 9 2 Randolph 9 3 Athol 8 1 Dedham 8 2 Mansfield 8 2 Pepperell 8 1 Rehoboth 8 1 Spencer 8 1 Taunton 8 5 Bridgewater 7 2 Centerville 7 1 Charlton 7 1 Clinton 7 1 Kingston 7 1 Leominster 7 3 Lynn 7 7 Mashpee 7 1 Raynham 7 1 Salem 7 3 Abington 6 1 Allston 6 2 Auburn 6 1 Franklin 6 2 Northbridge 6 1 Chelsea 5 2 Marlborough 5 2 Sharon 5 1 Shrewsbury 5 2 Attleborough 4 2 Haverhill 4 3 Middleborough 4 1 North Dartmouth 4 1 Falmouth 3 1 Medford 3 2 Milford 3 1 Milton 3 1 Natick 3 1 North Attleborough 3 1 Plymouth 3 2 Waltham 3 2 Watertown 3 1 Weymouth 3 2 Beverly 2 1 Cambridge 2 3 Chelmsford 2 1 Dorchester Center 2 2 E. Boston 2 1 Everett 2 1 Jamaica Plain 2 1 Pittsfield 2 1 Woburn 2 1 Chicopee 1 1 Lawrence 1 1 Malden 1 1 South Weymouth 1 1 Springfield 1 2 (not given) 0 330 Lowell 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 124 24 Plymouth 81 35 Norfolk 77 66 Worcester 58 65 Bristol 57 47 Berkshire 18 3 Middlesex 14 34 Essex 13 15 Suffolk 5 10 Hampden 4 3 Dukes 0 0 Franklin 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/.