Filings Week Ending 2023 March 04

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2023-02-27 Search Period End: 2023-03-04 Earliest Case: 2023-02-27 Latest Case: 2023-03-03 Total Cases: 633 Total Transfers: 14 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 23.4% Of those, percentage pro se: 55.4% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Buzzards Bay Least stable with 10+ filings: Fall River Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Barnstable Cases per day: 126 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 130 20.5% northeast 101 16.0% southeast 88 13.9% eastern 83 13.1% central 74 11.7% metro_south 65 10.3% worcester district 11 1.7% framingham district 7 1.1% lowell district 7 1.1% peabody district 7 1.1% quincy district 7 1.1% cambridge district 5 0.8% malden district 5 0.8% lawrence district 4 0.6% lynn district 4 0.6% northern berkshire district 4 0.6% attleboro district 3 0.5% fall river district 3 0.5% fallmouth district 3 0.5% wrentham district 3 0.5% barnstable district 2 0.3% bmc dorchester 2 0.3% concord district 2 0.3% stoughton district 2 0.3% clinton district 1 0.2% hingham district 1 0.2% ipswich district 1 0.2% new bedford district 1 0.2% newburyport district 1 0.2% orleans district 1 0.2% pittsfield district 1 0.2% taunton district 1 0.2% uxbridge district 1 0.2% waltham district 1 0.2% westfield district 1 0.2% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 485 1 Natural Person 148 632 Total 633 633 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 76.6% 0.2% Natural Person 23.4% 99.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 478 7 485 Optional 66 82 148 Total 544 89 633 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 75.5% 1.1% 76.6% Optional 10.4% 13.0% 23.4% Total 85.9% 14.1% 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 1 1 Optional 7 625 632 Total 7 626 633 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.2% 0.2% Optional 1.1% 98.7% 99.8% Total 1.1% 98.9% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 32 5.1% 1 476 75.2% 2 106 16.7% 3 14 2.2% 4 5 0.8% Total 633 100.0% 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 512 80.9% Cause 73 11.5% No Fault 36 5.7% Foreclosure 12 1.9% Unknown/Other 0 0.0% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Buzzards Bay 87 3 Cheshire 61 2 Harwich Port 57 1 South Dennis 54 2 Seekonk 51 7 Hyannis 42 6 North Billerica 37 4 West Yarmouth 37 2 Dedham 36 9 Northborough 35 5 Plympton 35 1 Fall River 34 31 Bridgewater 33 9 Marlborough 31 12 New Bedford 28 27 Canton 27 6 Brookline 25 15 Stoughton 25 7 Avon 22 1 Raynham 22 3 Maynard 19 2 Worcester 19 35 Lakeville 18 2 East Falmouth 17 1 Fitchburg 17 7 Norwood 17 5 Walpole 16 4 Natick 15 5 Roxbury 15 9 Clinton 14 2 Gardner 14 3 Framingham 13 9 Mattapan 13 5 Brockton 12 12 Millis 12 1 Plainville 12 1 South Hamilton 12 1 Adams 11 1 Blackstone 11 1 Littleton 11 1 Southbridge 11 2 Brewster 10 1 Attleborough 9 4 Peabody 9 5 Randolph 9 3 Revere 9 5 Rochdale 9 1 Winchendon 9 1 Athol 8 1 Dudley 8 1 Jamaica Plain 8 3 Lynnfield 8 1 Quincy 8 8 Wakefield 8 2 Waltham 8 5 Dorchester 7 7 Kingston 7 1 Mashpee 7 1 Millbury 7 1 North Adams 7 1 Uxbridge 7 1 Ashland 6 1 Franklin 6 2 Hopkinton 6 1 Lowell 6 7 Somerville 6 5 Bourne 5 1 Braintree 5 2 Cambridge 5 6 Chelsea 5 2 Foxborough 5 1 Hudson 5 1 Hyde Park 5 2 Lawrence 5 4 Lynn 5 5 Malden 5 3 Newburyport 5 1 Rockland 5 1 Roxbury Crossing 5 3 Somerset 5 1 South Boston 5 2 Weymouth 5 3 Woburn 5 2 Brighton 4 2 Everett 4 2 Hingham 4 1 Leominster 4 2 North Dartmouth 4 1 Onset 4 1 Allston 3 1 Dorchester Center 3 3 Dracut 3 1 Gloucester 3 1 Melrose 3 1 North Attleborough 3 1 Roslindale 3 1 Taunton 3 2 Watertown 3 1 West Roxbury 3 1 West Springfield 3 1 Pittsfield 2 1 Salem 2 1 Shrewsbury 2 1 Westfield 2 1 Boston 1 9 East Weymouth 1 1 South Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 224 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 Barnstable 93 18 Bristol 93 77 Norfolk 82 70 Plymouth 64 28 Worcester 57 64 Berkshire 30 5 Middlesex 30 71 Suffolk 27 55 Essex 17 19 Hampden 2 2 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/.