Filings Week Ending 2023 April 29

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2023-04-23 Search Period End: 2023-04-29 Earliest Case: 2023-04-24 Latest Case: 2023-04-28 Total Cases: 599 Total Transfers: 10 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 21.2% Of those, percentage pro se: 56.7% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: West Warren Least stable with 10+ filings: Ashland Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Berkshire Cases per day: 99 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 111 18.5% eastern 105 17.5% central 102 17.0% western 87 14.5% southeast 52 8.7% metro_south 38 6.3% chelsea district 12 2.0% pittsfield district 12 2.0% lynn district 8 1.3% lowell district 7 1.2% malden district 7 1.2% newburyport district 7 1.2% haverhill district 6 1.0% fall river district 5 0.8% brockton district 3 0.5% chicopee district 3 0.5% lawrence district 3 0.5% northern berkshire district 3 0.5% quincy district 3 0.5% springfield district 3 0.5% bmc dorchester 2 0.3% cambridge district 2 0.3% orleans district 2 0.3% somerville district 2 0.3% woburn district 2 0.3% attleboro district 1 0.2% bmc west roxbury 1 0.2% dedham district 1 0.2% hingham district 1 0.2% holyoke district 1 0.2% new bedford district 1 0.2% newton district 1 0.2% northampton district 1 0.2% peabody district 1 0.2% stoughton district 1 0.2% taunton district 1 0.2% westfield district 1 0.2% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 472 1 Natural Person 127 598 Total 599 599 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 78.8% 0.2% Natural Person 21.2% 99.8% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 463 9 472 Optional 55 72 127 Total 518 81 599 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 77.3% 1.5% 78.8% Optional 9.2% 12.0% 21.2% Total 86.5% 13.5% 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 8 590 598 Total 8 591 599 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.0% 0.2% 0.2% Optional 1.3% 98.5% 99.8% Total 1.3% 98.7% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 25 4.2% 1 447 74.6% 2 108 18.0% 3 15 2.5% 4 2 0.3% 6 1 0.2% 7 1 0.2% Total 599 100.0% 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 461 77.0% Cause 72 12.0% No Fault 48 8.0% Foreclosure 17 2.8% Unknown/Other 1 0.2% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count West Warren 88 1 East Sandwich 86 3 Ashland 72 12 West Dennis 45 1 Revere 44 23 Amesbury 42 7 Berlin 34 1 Marlborough 31 12 Cheshire 30 1 Ware 30 3 Milford 28 8 Whitinsville 28 2 Pittsfield 26 12 Fall River 25 23 Newton Center 25 1 Southbridge 23 4 North Brookfield 21 1 Brockton 20 19 Framingham 19 13 Gardner 19 4 Indian Orchard 19 2 Braintree 16 6 Orleans 16 1 Berkley 15 1 Hyannis 14 2 Northborough 14 2 Worcester 14 27 Springfield 13 21 Upton 13 1 Abington 12 2 Fairhaven 12 2 Middleborough 12 3 New Bedford 12 12 Plainville 12 1 Rutland 12 1 Assonet 11 1 Haverhill 11 7 Rockland 11 2 Roxbury 11 7 Stoughton 11 3 Chicopee 10 6 Dorchester 10 10 North Chelmsford 10 1 Norwood 10 3 Acushnet 9 1 Lynn 9 9 Athol 8 1 Chelmsford 8 3 Chelsea 8 3 Hyde Park 8 3 Centerville 7 1 Charlton 7 1 Clinton 7 1 East Bridgewater 7 1 Holliston 7 1 Leominster 7 3 Medford 7 4 North Adams 7 1 Seekonk 7 1 Allston 6 2 Auburn 6 1 Malden 6 4 Natick 6 2 Charlestown 5 1 Dorchester Center 5 5 Holyoke 5 2 Quincy 5 5 Shrewsbury 5 2 South Weymouth 5 3 Belmont 4 1 Burlington 4 1 Canton 4 1 Everett 4 2 Ludlow 4 1 Mansfield 4 1 North Dartmouth 4 1 Stoneham 4 1 Agawam 3 1 Andover 3 1 Danvers 3 1 Franklin 3 1 Marshfield 3 1 Melrose 3 1 Needham 3 1 North Attleborough 3 1 Saugus 3 1 Taunton 3 2 West Springfield 3 1 Attleborough 2 1 Beverly 2 1 East Boston 2 1 Fitchburg 2 1 Lowell 2 3 Mattapan 2 1 Salem 2 1 Westfield 2 1 Lawrence 1 1 Newton Highlands 1 1 Peabody 1 1 Plymouth 1 1 Roxbury Crossing 1 1 Somerville 1 1 (not given) 0 223 Boston 0 1 Cambridge 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 Berkshire 86 14 Plymouth 67 29 Bristol 57 47 Worcester 55 62 Hampden 49 35 Barnstable 41 8 Suffolk 29 58 Norfolk 28 24 Essex 27 30 Middlesex 27 65 Hampshire 16 3 Dukes 0 0 Franklin 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/.