Filings Week Ending 2022 December 24

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2022-12-18 Search Period End: 2022-12-24 Earliest Case: 2022-12-19 Latest Case: 2022-12-23 Total Cases: 1102 Total Transfers: 16 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 19.1% Of those, percentage pro se: 42.7% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: North Truro Least stable with 10+ filings: Southbridge Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Plymouth Cases per day: 183 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 236 21.4% central 169 15.3% western 153 13.9% eastern 143 13.0% southeast 124 11.3% metro_south 115 10.4% malden district 19 1.7% somerville district 16 1.5% fall river district 13 1.2% lynn district 13 1.2% northern berkshire district 9 0.8% attleboro district 7 0.6% lowell district 7 0.6% waltham district 7 0.6% pittsfield district 6 0.5% bmc west roxbury 5 0.5% fallmouth district 5 0.5% quincy district 5 0.5% haverhill district 4 0.4% salem district 4 0.4% cambridge district 3 0.3% chicopee district 3 0.3% peabody district 3 0.3% woburn district 3 0.3% bmc brighton 2 0.2% brockton district 2 0.2% chelsea district 2 0.2% framingham district 2 0.2% gloucester district 2 0.2% lawrence district 2 0.2% nantucket district 2 0.2% orleans district 2 0.2% stoughton district 2 0.2% wrentham district 2 0.2% barnstable district 1 0.1% bmc dorchester 1 0.1% bmc roxbury 1 0.1% concord district 1 0.1% eastern hampshire district 1 0.1% edgartown district 1 0.1% new bedford district 1 0.1% newburyport district 1 0.1% plymouth district 1 0.1% springfield district 1 0.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 891 1 Natural Person 211 1101 Total 1102 1102 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 80.9% 0.1% Natural Person 19.1% 99.9% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 854 37 891 Optional 121 90 211 Total 975 127 1102 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 77.5% 3.4% 80.9% Optional 11.0% 8.2% 19.1% Total 88.5% 11.5% 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 1 1 Optional 12 1089 1101 Total 12 1090 1102 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% Optional 1.1% 98.8% 99.9% Total 1.1% 98.9% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 62 5.6% 1 837 76.0% 2 168 15.2% 3 23 2.1% 4 7 0.6% 5 2 0.2% 6 2 0.2% 7 1 0.1% Total 1102 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 811 73.6% Cause 180 16.3% No Fault 104 9.4% Foreclosure 7 0.6% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count North Truro 199 4 Buzzards Bay 145 5 Truro 99 2 Southbridge 83 14 Oxford 72 10 Norwood 66 19 Marshfield 63 16 Teaticket 58 1 East Wareham 54 12 Vineyard Haven 52 1 North Adams 51 7 Marlborough 46 18 Franklin 41 13 Stoughton 40 11 Worcester 37 67 Seekonk 36 5 Webster 35 6 Berlin 34 1 Pocasset 34 1 Fall River 33 30 Dennis Port 31 1 Malden 31 19 Cheshire 30 1 Whitinsville 28 2 Everett 26 11 Braintree 25 9 Millis 25 2 New Bedford 25 24 Taunton 25 14 Bellingham 24 4 Canton 23 5 Foxborough 23 4 Framingham 23 16 Bedford 22 3 Rockland 22 4 Randolph 21 7 Westborough 21 4 Dedham 20 5 Marion 20 1 Quincy 20 19 Roslindale 20 6 Fitchburg 19 8 Hull 19 2 Lynn 19 18 Nantucket 19 2 Warren 19 1 East Falmouth 17 1 Middleborough 17 4 Hopedale 16 1 Pembroke 16 3 East Taunton 15 1 Hudson 15 3 Norton 15 3 Pittsfield 15 7 Clinton 14 2 Holliston 14 2 Attleborough 13 6 West Boylston 13 1 Abington 12 2 Leominster 12 5 North Grafton 12 1 Salisbury 12 1 Adams 11 1 Scituate 11 2 Beverly 10 4 Holbrook 9 1 Indian Orchard 9 1 Lakeville 9 1 Natick 9 3 Somerville 9 7 Waltham 9 6 Wrentham 9 1 Brockton 8 8 Medfield 8 1 Medford 8 5 South Yarmouth 8 1 Spencer 8 1 Tyngsborough 8 1 Wilmington 8 2 Bridgewater 7 2 Danvers 7 2 Hyannis 7 1 Millbury 7 1 Peabody 7 4 Weymouth 7 4 Andover 6 2 Ashland 6 1 Auburn 6 1 Gloucester 6 2 Haverhill 6 4 Needham Heights 6 2 Watertown 6 2 Westport 6 1 Westwood 6 1 Chicopee 5 3 Somerset 5 1 South Hadley 5 1 Sudbury 5 1 Woburn 5 2 Hingham 4 1 Lowell 4 5 North Dartmouth 4 1 Salem 4 2 Stoneham 4 1 Wakefield 4 1 Cambridge 3 4 East Weymouth 3 2 Milford 3 1 Needham 3 1 Plymouth 3 2 Saugus 3 1 Billerica 2 1 Chelsea 2 1 Dorchester 2 2 East Boston 2 1 South Dartmouth 2 1 Dorchester Center 1 1 Revere 1 1 South Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 507 Springfield 0 1 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 Plymouth 138 60 Norfolk 131 112 Worcester 114 127 Bristol 105 87 Berkshire 99 16 Barnstable 88 17 Nantucket 56 2 Middlesex 48 114 Essex 36 40 Dukes 24 1 Hampden 7 5 Suffolk 6 12 Hampshire 5 1 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/.