Filings Week Ending 2023 February 18

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2023-02-12 Search Period End: 2023-02-18 Earliest Case: 2023-02-13 Latest Case: 2023-02-17 Total Cases: 1001 Total Transfers: 18 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 19.3% Of those, percentage pro se: 42.5% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Gilbertville Least stable with 10+ filings: Dedham Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Bristol Cases per day: 166 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 western 185 18.5% northeast 178 17.8% central 173 17.3% eastern 124 12.4% southeast 118 11.8% metro_south 92 9.2% quincy district 15 1.5% chicopee district 13 1.3% malden district 11 1.1% springfield district 11 1.1% brockton district 8 0.8% dedham district 7 0.7% somerville district 7 0.7% bmc roxbury 6 0.6% northern berkshire district 6 0.6% new bedford district 5 0.5% chelsea district 4 0.4% woburn district 4 0.4% attleboro district 3 0.3% haverhill district 3 0.3% lynn district 3 0.3% waltham district 3 0.3% wrentham district 3 0.3% bmc central 2 0.2% newton district 2 0.2% barnstable district 1 0.1% bmc dorchester 1 0.1% bmc east boston 1 0.1% clinton district 1 0.1% concord district 1 0.1% fallmouth district 1 0.1% framingham district 1 0.1% gloucester district 1 0.1% hingham district 1 0.1% holyoke district 1 0.1% lowell district 1 0.1% northampton district 1 0.1% pittsfield district 1 0.1% salem district 1 0.1% westfield district 1 0.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 808 2 Natural Person 193 999 Total 1001 1001 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 80.7% 0.2% Natural Person 19.3% 99.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 765 43 808 Optional 111 82 193 Total 876 125 1001 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 76.4% 4.3% 80.7% Optional 11.1% 8.2% 19.3% Total 87.5% 12.5% 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 2 2 Optional 4 995 999 Total 4 997 1001 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.2% 0.2% Optional 0.4% 99.4% 99.8% Total 0.4% 99.6% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 69 6.9% 1 759 75.8% 2 138 13.8% 3 23 2.3% 4 10 1.0% 5 2 0.2% Total 1001 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 701 70.0% Cause 149 14.9% No Fault 140 14.0% Foreclosure 10 1.0% Unknown/Other 1 0.1% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Gilbertville 86 1 South Easton 68 7 Dedham 60 15 East Sandwich 57 2 Newton Center 51 2 Framingham 49 34 Plainville 48 4 New Bedford 47 45 Marlborough 44 17 North Adams 36 5 Berlin 34 1 Worcester 33 60 Norwood 31 9 Brockton 29 28 Clinton 29 4 Whitinsville 28 2 Taunton 26 15 Athol 25 3 Fall River 24 22 Gardner 24 5 West Springfield 24 7 Chicopee 23 13 North Dighton 23 1 Quincy 23 22 Southbridge 23 4 Fitchburg 22 9 Littleton 22 2 Stoughton 22 6 Mansfield 21 5 Randolph 21 7 Burlington 20 5 Marstons Mills 20 1 Westwood 20 3 Northbridge 19 3 Shrewsbury 19 7 Yarmouth Port 19 1 Barre 18 1 East Falmouth 17 1 Ashburnham 16 1 Braintree 16 6 Charlton 15 2 East Taunton 15 1 Lincoln 15 1 Chelsea 14 5 Leominster 14 6 Seekonk 14 2 Ayer 13 1 Rutland 12 1 Adams 11 1 East Weymouth 11 6 Foxborough 11 2 Lynn 11 10 Malden 11 7 Sharon 11 2 Auburndale 10 1 Beverly 10 4 Hudson 10 2 North Attleborough 10 3 Plymouth 10 6 Sturbridge 10 1 Billerica 9 4 East Wareham 9 2 Everett 9 4 Hingham 9 2 Holbrook 9 1 Hull 9 1 Wareham 9 2 Watertown 9 3 Winchendon 9 1 Carver 8 1 Dudley 8 1 Medford 8 5 Middleborough 8 2 Bedford 7 1 Centerville 7 1 Dorchester 7 7 Hyannis 7 1 Milford 7 2 North Easton 7 1 Oxford 7 1 Revere 7 4 Woburn 7 3 Auburn 6 1 Bellingham 6 1 Needham 6 2 Somerville 6 5 Swansea 6 1 Grafton 5 1 Rockland 5 1 Webster 5 1 Westborough 5 1 Canton 4 1 Haverhill 4 3 Pittsfield 4 2 Waltham 4 3 Westford 4 1 Dracut 3 1 East Walpole 3 1 Falmouth 3 1 Franklin 3 1 Gloucester 3 1 Lowell 3 4 Natick 3 1 Weymouth 3 2 Attleborough 2 1 E. Boston 2 1 Holyoke 2 1 Hyde Park 2 1 Salem 2 1 Springfield 2 4 Westfield 2 1 Dorchester Center 1 1 Lawrence 1 1 Newton 1 1 North Weymouth 1 1 Peabody 1 1 South Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 447 Boston 0 2 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 126 104 Norfolk 109 93 Worcester 107 120 Plymouth 104 45 Berkshire 49 8 Middlesex 46 108 Barnstable 41 8 Hampden 36 26 Essex 19 21 Suffolk 10 21 Dukes 0 0 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. 2023-01: We now report dispositions on the basis of the last disposition found in a docket. Previously we were using a prioritized keyword match, which produced inaccurate results for complex cases. -- When Citing This Work, Please Credit: MassLandlords, Inc. Available online at https://masslandlords.net/policy/eviction-data/.