Filings Week Ending 2022 December 10

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-12-04 Search Period End: 2022-12-10 Earliest Case: 2022-12-05 Latest Case: 2022-12-09 Total Cases: 702 Total Transfers: 18 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 32.3% Of those, percentage pro se: 61.7% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Hinsdale Least stable with 10+ filings: Marlborough Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Plymouth Cases per day: 117 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 129 18.4% northeast 126 17.9% central 117 16.7% eastern 101 14.4% southeast 80 11.4% metro_south 73 10.4% pittsfield district 11 1.6% lawrence district 10 1.4% lynn district 8 1.1% chelsea district 6 0.9% haverhill district 5 0.7% malden district 3 0.4% attleboro district 2 0.3% bmc central 2 0.3% chicopee district 2 0.3% fallmouth district 2 0.3% framingham district 2 0.3% gloucester district 2 0.3% lowell district 2 0.3% palmer district 2 0.3% peabody district 2 0.3% springfield district 2 0.3% bmc east boston 1 0.1% bmc west roxbury 1 0.1% greenfield district 1 0.1% new bedford district 1 0.1% newburyport district 1 0.1% newton district 1 0.1% northern berkshire district 1 0.1% plymouth district 1 0.1% quincy district 1 0.1% salem district 1 0.1% somerville district 1 0.1% taunton district 1 0.1% wrentham district 1 0.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 475 3 Natural Person 227 699 Total 702 702 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 67.7% 0.4% Natural Person 32.3% 99.6% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 460 15 475 Optional 87 140 227 Total 547 155 702 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 65.5% 2.1% 67.7% Optional 12.4% 19.9% 32.3% Total 77.9% 22.1% 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 3 3 Optional 6 693 699 Total 6 696 702 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.4% 0.4% Optional 0.9% 98.7% 99.6% Total 0.9% 99.1% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 57 8.1% 1 516 73.5% 2 105 15.0% 3 18 2.6% 4 5 0.7% 5 1 0.1% Total 702 100.0% 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 465 66.2% No Fault 135 19.2% Cause 97 13.8% Foreclosure 5 0.7% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Hinsdale 98 2 Baldwinville 52 1 Newton Center 51 2 Webster 47 8 Marlborough 46 18 West Wareham 46 1 West Bridgewater 43 3 South Easton 39 4 Fall River 32 29 Dennis Port 31 1 Brookfield 29 1 Buzzards Bay 29 1 Quincy 28 26 Whitinsville 28 2 Sagamore Beach 27 1 West Brookfield 27 1 Turners Falls 24 1 Southbridge 23 4 Bridgewater 22 6 Westborough 21 4 Bolton 20 1 Pittsfield 20 9 Worcester 20 38 Lakeville 18 2 Chelsea 17 6 East Falmouth 17 1 Fitchburg 17 7 Mendon 17 1 Lee 16 1 East Taunton 15 1 Groveland 15 1 East Bridgewater 14 2 Framingham 14 10 Gardner 14 3 Hyannis 14 2 New Bedford 14 14 Northborough 14 2 Rockport 14 1 Stoughton 14 4 Brockton 13 13 Upton 13 1 Middleborough 12 3 Randolph 12 4 Rutland 12 1 Salisbury 12 1 Adams 11 1 Methuen 10 5 Taunton 10 6 Leicester 9 1 Carver 8 1 Dudley 8 1 Lynn 8 8 Medfield 8 1 South Yarmouth 8 1 Spencer 8 1 Charlton 7 1 Dorchester 7 7 Holliston 7 1 Leominster 7 3 Marshfield 7 2 Milford 7 2 North Easton 7 1 Oxford 7 1 Seekonk 7 1 South Weymouth 7 4 Abington 6 1 Attleborough 6 3 Duxbury 6 1 Fairhaven 6 1 Haverhill 6 4 Foxborough 5 1 Holden 5 1 Hyde Park 5 2 Norton 5 1 Pembroke 5 1 Revere 5 3 Rockland 5 1 Shrewsbury 5 2 Weymouth 5 3 Winthrop 5 1 Dedham 4 1 Dorchester Center 4 4 East Wareham 4 1 Everett 4 2 Hingham 4 1 North Dartmouth 4 1 Walpole 4 1 Wareham 4 1 Andover 3 1 Chicopee 3 2 Franklin 3 1 Gloucester 3 1 Lawrence 3 3 Milton 3 1 Natick 3 1 Needham 3 1 North Andover 3 1 Norwood 3 1 Peabody 3 2 Tewksbury 3 1 Watertown 3 1 Chelmsford 2 1 Mattapan 2 1 East Weymouth 1 1 Malden 1 1 Plymouth 1 1 Somerville 1 1 Springfield 1 2 (not given) 0 345 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 94 41 Berkshire 80 13 Worcester 79 88 Bristol 75 62 Norfolk 58 50 Barnstable 36 7 Essex 25 28 Middlesex 16 39 Suffolk 12 24 Franklin 9 1 Hampden 5 4 Dukes 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/.