Filings Week Ending 2022 September 17

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-09-11 Search Period End: 2022-09-17 Earliest Case: 2022-09-12 Latest Case: 2022-09-16 Total Cases: 795 Total Transfers: 9 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 33.1% Of those, percentage pro se: 52.5% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Hardwick Least stable with 10+ filings: Gardner Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Bristol Cases per day: 132 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 statistically significantly above the pre-pandemic housing crisis baseline. -- Courts (n) Count Percent northeast 146 18.4% southeast 146 18.4% central 140 17.6% western 106 13.3% eastern 88 11.1% metro_south 48 6.0% quincy district 18 2.3% lynn district 10 1.3% bmc east boston 9 1.1% cambridge district 8 1.0% fall river district 7 0.9% lowell district 7 0.9% malden district 7 0.9% somerville district 6 0.8% attleboro district 5 0.6% chelsea district 5 0.6% pittsfield district 5 0.6% dedham district 4 0.5% haverhill district 4 0.5% waltham district 4 0.5% brockton district 3 0.4% milford district 2 0.3% new bedford district 2 0.3% newburyport district 2 0.3% salem district 2 0.3% barnstable district 1 0.1% bmc dorchester 1 0.1% concord district 1 0.1% framingham district 1 0.1% natick district 1 0.1% newton district 1 0.1% plymouth district 1 0.1% taunton district 1 0.1% wareham district 1 0.1% woburn district 1 0.1% worcester district 1 0.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 532 4 Natural Person 263 791 Total 795 795 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 66.9% 0.5% Natural Person 33.1% 99.5% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 493 39 532 Optional 125 138 263 Total 618 177 795 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 62.0% 4.9% 66.9% Optional 15.7% 17.4% 33.1% Total 77.7% 22.3% 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 4 4 Optional 8 783 791 Total 8 787 795 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.5% 0.5% Optional 1.0% 98.5% 99.5% Total 1.0% 99.0% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 74 9.3% 1 534 67.2% 2 154 19.4% 3 25 3.1% 4 6 0.8% 5 2 0.3% Total 795 100.0% 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 443 55.7% No Fault 178 22.4% Cause 164 20.6% Foreclosure 10 1.3% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Hardwick 66 2 Hyannis 56 8 Gardner 54 11 Athol 51 6 Fall River 50 45 New Bedford 44 42 South Yarmouth 43 5 East Falmouth 34 2 Worcester 33 60 Middleborough 30 7 Nahant 29 1 Dedham 28 7 East Sandwich 28 1 Rockland 28 5 Hingham 27 6 Westborough 27 5 Upton 26 2 Millis 25 2 Edgartown 24 1 Webster 23 4 Clinton 22 3 E. Boston 22 9 Leominster 22 9 Raynham 22 3 Norwood 20 6 Hull 19 2 Warren 19 1 Attleborough 18 8 Lakeville 18 2 Southbridge 17 3 Spencer 17 2 Tyngsborough 17 2 East Weymouth 16 9 Hopedale 16 1 Hudson 15 3 Brockton 14 14 Quincy 14 13 Taunton 14 8 Uxbridge 14 2 West Boylston 13 1 Westminster 13 1 Bellingham 12 2 Natick 12 4 Randolph 12 4 Rutland 12 1 Blackstone 11 1 Braintree 11 4 Chelsea 11 4 Newburyport 11 2 Shrewsbury 11 4 Stoughton 11 3 Sutton 11 1 Auburndale 10 1 Brewster 10 1 Mattapan 10 4 Cherry Valley 9 1 Everett 9 4 Fitchburg 9 4 Hanson 9 1 Holbrook 9 1 Lynn 9 9 Carver 8 1 Pittsfield 8 4 Rehoboth 8 1 Cambridge 7 8 Charlton 7 1 Framingham 7 5 Kingston 7 1 Mashpee 7 1 Milford 7 2 Millbury 7 1 Revere 7 4 Swampscott 7 1 Weymouth 7 4 Auburn 6 1 Duxbury 6 1 Fairhaven 6 1 Haverhill 6 4 North Attleborough 6 2 Whitman 6 1 Beverly 5 2 Charlestown 5 1 Dorchester Center 5 5 Hyde Park 5 2 Malden 5 3 Medford 5 3 Somerset 5 1 Sudbury 5 1 Dorchester 4 4 Lowell 4 5 Mansfield 4 1 Onset 4 1 Stoneham 4 1 Walpole 4 1 Wareham 4 1 Allston 3 1 Bridgewater 3 1 Danvers 3 1 Franklin 3 1 Lexington 3 1 Roxbury 3 2 Somerville 3 3 Waltham 3 2 Watertown 3 1 West Roxbury 3 1 North Weymouth 1 1 Plymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 322 span 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 Bristol 136 112 Worcester 116 130 Plymouth 104 45 Barnstable 93 18 Norfolk 68 58 Berkshire 24 4 Dukes 24 1 Middlesex 20 47 Essex 18 20 Suffolk 18 37 Franklin 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/.