Filings Week Ending 2022 October 01

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-09-25 Search Period End: 2022-10-01 Earliest Case: 2022-09-26 Latest Case: 2022-09-30 Total Cases: 658 Total Transfers: 8 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 25.4% Of those, percentage pro se: 57.5% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Gilbertville Least stable with 10+ filings: Randolph Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Plymouth Cases per day: 109 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 128 19.5% southeast 93 14.1% central 88 13.4% eastern 83 12.6% metro_south 81 12.3% western 75 11.4% fall river district 10 1.5% lynn district 10 1.5% brockton district 7 1.1% springfield district 7 1.1% chicopee district 6 0.9% peabody district 6 0.9% waltham district 6 0.9% bmc east boston 5 0.8% lowell district 5 0.8% barnstable district 4 0.6% lawrence district 4 0.6% pittsfield district 4 0.6% attleboro district 3 0.5% chelsea district 3 0.5% dedham district 3 0.5% new bedford district 3 0.5% quincy district 3 0.5% somerville district 3 0.5% haverhill district 2 0.3% woburn district 2 0.3% ayer district 1 0.2% bmc central 1 0.2% bmc roxbury 1 0.2% brookline district 1 0.2% cambridge district 1 0.2% concord district 1 0.2% fallmouth district 1 0.2% framingham district 1 0.2% gloucester district 1 0.2% holyoke district 1 0.2% newton district 1 0.2% northern berkshire district 1 0.2% plymouth district 1 0.2% taunton district 1 0.2% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 491 0 Natural Person 167 658 Total 658 658 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 74.6% 0.0% Natural Person 25.4% 100.0% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 481 10 491 Optional 71 96 167 Total 552 106 658 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 73.1% 1.5% 74.6% Optional 10.8% 14.6% 25.4% Total 83.9% 16.1% 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 8 650 658 Total 8 650 658 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Optional 1.2% 98.8% 100.0% Total 1.2% 98.8% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 51 7.8% 1 489 74.3% 2 104 15.8% 3 11 1.7% 4 2 0.3% 5 1 0.2% Total 658 100.0% 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 433 65.8% Cause 139 21.1% No Fault 84 12.8% Foreclosure 2 0.3% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Gilbertville 86 1 Randolph 74 24 Fitchburg 52 21 Vineyard Haven 52 1 Fall River 42 38 Rockland 40 7 South Easton 39 4 South Yarmouth 34 4 Abington 31 5 Winchendon 29 3 Gardner 24 5 Charlton 23 3 Webster 23 4 Hingham 22 5 Winthrop 22 4 Hyannis 21 3 North Brookfield 21 1 Raynham Center 21 1 Sturbridge 21 2 Bolton 20 1 North Attleborough 20 6 Bridgewater 18 5 West Yarmouth 18 1 Norwood 17 5 Worcester 17 31 New Bedford 16 16 Newton Upper Falls 16 1 East Weymouth 14 8 Quincy 14 13 Stoughton 14 4 Whitinsville 14 1 Brockton 13 13 Canton 13 3 Cohasset 13 1 East Wareham 13 3 Halifax 13 1 Westwood 13 2 Fairhaven 12 2 Taunton 12 7 Peabody 11 6 Sharon 11 2 Southbridge 11 2 Chicopee 10 6 Marblehead 10 2 Norton 10 2 Westborough 10 2 Acushnet 9 1 Andover 9 3 Cherry Valley 9 1 Holbrook 9 1 Wrentham 9 1 Braintree 8 3 Dudley 8 1 Groton 8 1 Harwich 8 1 Pittsfield 8 4 Hanover 7 1 Mashpee 7 1 North Adams 7 1 North Easton 7 1 Swampscott 7 1 Dorchester Center 6 6 Franklin 6 2 Gloucester 6 2 Lynn 6 6 Natick 6 2 Waltham 6 4 Chelmsford 5 2 Chelsea 5 2 Dorchester 5 5 Foxborough 5 1 Marlborough 5 2 Plymouth 5 3 Roxbury 5 3 Shrewsbury 5 2 Woburn 5 2 Attleborough 4 2 Leominster 4 2 Mansfield 4 1 Middleborough 4 1 Onset 4 1 Springfield 4 7 Dracut 3 1 Falmouth 3 1 Haverhill 3 2 Lexington 3 1 Watertown 3 1 E. Boston 2 1 Framingham 2 2 Holyoke 2 1 Hyde Park 2 1 Mattapan 2 1 Methuen 2 1 Somerville 2 2 Lowell 1 2 Revere 1 1 Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 275 Boston 0 1 Cambridge 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 104 45 Bristol 98 81 Norfolk 83 71 Worcester 74 83 Barnstable 56 11 Berkshire 30 5 Dukes 24 1 Essex 20 23 Hampden 19 14 Suffolk 12 25 Middlesex 10 24 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/.