Filings Week Ending 2023 January 07

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2023-01-01 Search Period End: 2023-01-07 Earliest Case: 2023-01-02 Latest Case: 2023-01-06 Total Cases: 540 Total Transfers: 10 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 21.3% Of those, percentage pro se: 49.6% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Oxford Least stable with 10+ filings: Oxford Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Bristol Cases per day: 90 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 101 18.7% western 84 15.6% eastern 82 15.2% central 74 13.7% southeast 66 12.2% metro_south 27 5.0% lawrence district 17 3.1% brockton district 16 3.0% somerville district 14 2.6% lowell district 11 2.0% malden district 9 1.7% lynn district 8 1.5% new bedford district 6 1.1% barnstable district 3 0.6% springfield district 3 0.6% waltham district 3 0.6% fall river district 2 0.4% gloucester district 2 0.4% quincy district 2 0.4% bmc roxbury 1 0.2% cambridge district 1 0.2% chelsea district 1 0.2% edgartown district 1 0.2% northern berkshire district 1 0.2% palmer district 1 0.2% pittsfield district 1 0.2% plymouth district 1 0.2% wareham district 1 0.2% woburn district 1 0.2% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 425 0 Natural Person 115 540 Total 540 540 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 78.7% 0.0% Natural Person 21.3% 100.0% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 422 3 425 Optional 58 57 115 Total 480 60 540 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 78.1% 0.6% 78.7% Optional 10.7% 10.6% 21.3% Total 88.9% 11.1% 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 3 537 540 Total 3 537 540 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Optional 0.6% 99.4% 100.0% Total 0.6% 99.4% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 30 5.6% 1 392 72.6% 2 103 19.1% 3 9 1.7% 4 4 0.7% 5 2 0.4% Total 540 100.0% 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 423 78.3% Cause 79 14.6% No Fault 36 6.7% Foreclosure 2 0.4% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Oxford 80 11 Buzzards Bay 58 2 Vineyard Haven 52 1 South Easton 39 4 Fall River 36 32 Cheshire 30 1 South Dennis 27 1 Newton Center 25 1 North Dartmouth 25 6 North Andover 24 7 Sudbury 22 4 Brockton 21 20 Everett 21 9 Marion 20 1 Attleborough 18 8 Bellingham 18 3 Holbrook 18 2 Somerville 18 14 Waltham 18 11 Woburn 18 7 Dudley 17 2 Webster 17 3 Millbury 15 2 Hyannis 14 2 Lynn 14 13 Rockport 14 1 Salem 14 6 Whitinsville 14 1 Weymouth 13 7 Fitchburg 12 5 Worcester 12 23 Lawrence 11 9 Southbridge 11 2 Marlborough 10 4 Hanson 9 1 Lakeville 9 1 Lowell 9 10 Athol 8 1 Framingham 8 6 Middleborough 8 2 South Yarmouth 8 1 Wakefield 8 2 Kingston 7 1 Leominster 7 3 Mashpee 7 1 Milford 7 2 New Bedford 7 7 Stoughton 7 2 Swampscott 7 1 Taunton 7 4 Abington 6 1 Auburn 6 1 Gloucester 6 2 Malden 6 4 North Attleborough 6 2 Beverly 5 2 Concord 5 1 Foxborough 5 1 Marblehead 5 1 Norton 5 1 Sharon 5 1 Shrewsbury 5 2 Westborough 5 1 Gardner 4 1 Quincy 4 4 Dracut 3 1 Franklin 3 1 Marshfield 3 1 Randolph 3 1 Saugus 3 1 Watertown 3 1 Mattapan 2 1 Pittsfield 2 1 South Dartmouth 2 1 Dorchester 1 1 East Weymouth 1 1 Peabody 1 1 Revere 1 1 Springfield 1 3 (not given) 0 227 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 Bristol 79 65 Plymouth 64 28 Worcester 53 60 Essex 40 44 Barnstable 36 7 Middlesex 32 76 Norfolk 26 23 Dukes 24 1 Berkshire 12 2 Hampden 4 3 Suffolk 2 4 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/.

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