Filings Week Ending 2023 May 27

Residential summary process: Filings Report This report examines cases filed recently before reading, for which outcomes were largely unknown. Search Period Start: 2023-05-21 Search Period End: 2023-05-27 Earliest Case: 2023-05-22 Latest Case: 2023-05-26 Total Cases: 774 Total Transfers: 20 -- High-level take-aways: Percentage of landlords for whom attorney is optional: 23.4% Of those, percentage pro se: 47.0% Most common cause: Non-payment Least stable municipality/neighborhood: Nahant Least stable with 10+ filings: Mansfield Least stable with 100+ filings: (not given) Least stable county: Barnstable Cases per day: 129 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 175 22.6% eastern 153 19.8% central 108 14.0% western 90 11.6% southeast 86 11.1% metro_south 49 6.3% quincy district 13 1.7% cambridge district 11 1.4% fall river district 8 1.0% malden district 8 1.0% lynn district 7 0.9% brockton district 5 0.6% pittsfield district 5 0.6% bmc central 4 0.5% northern berkshire district 4 0.5% woburn district 4 0.5% bmc dorchester 3 0.4% dedham district 3 0.4% framingham district 3 0.4% milford district 3 0.4% palmer district 3 0.4% somerville district 3 0.4% barnstable district 2 0.3% bmc east boston 2 0.3% chelsea district 2 0.3% fitchburg district 2 0.3% lawrence district 2 0.3% lowell district 2 0.3% wareham district 2 0.3% bmc brighton 1 0.1% bmc roxbury 1 0.1% bmc west roxbury 1 0.1% clinton district 1 0.1% concord district 1 0.1% haverhill district 1 0.1% newburyport district 1 0.1% orleans district 1 0.1% salem district 1 0.1% stoughton district 1 0.1% worcester district 1 0.1% wrentham district 1 0.1% Party Type (n) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 593 4 Natural Person 181 770 Total 774 774 (%) Plaintiffs Defendants Corporate Entity 76.6% 0.5% Natural Person 23.4% 99.5% Total 100.0% 100.0% Plaintiff Representation (n) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 578 15 593 Optional 96 85 181 Total 674 100 774 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 74.7% 1.9% 76.6% Optional 12.4% 11.0% 23.4% Total 87.1% 12.9% 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 1 3 4 Optional 3 767 770 Total 4 770 774 (%) Has Attorney Pro Se Total Required 0.1% 0.4% 0.5% Optional 0.4% 99.1% 99.5% Total 0.5% 99.5% 100.0% Number of Adults in Households Count Percent 0 45 5.8% 1 572 73.9% 2 128 16.5% 3 22 2.8% 4 7 0.9% Total 774 100.0% 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 573 74.0% Cause 120 15.5% No Fault 75 9.7% Foreclosure 5 0.6% Unknown/Other 1 0.1% Rate per 100,000 Municipality Residents Count Nahant 87 3 Fiskdale 64 2 Mansfield 60 14 Osterville 56 2 Hyannis 49 7 Norwood 48 14 Danvers 45 12 Framingham 38 26 West Yarmouth 37 2 South Yarmouth 34 4 Dorchester 32 30 Fall River 32 29 Dennis Port 31 1 Millville 31 1 North Adams 29 4 East Sandwich 28 1 Lynn 26 24 Plainville 24 2 Foxborough 23 4 East Freetown 20 1 Worcester 20 37 Lenox 19 1 Marshfield 19 5 Salem 19 8 Warren 19 1 Abington 18 3 Holbrook 18 2 Athol 17 2 Charlestown 17 3 Chelsea 17 6 Dudley 17 2 Revere 17 9 Webster 17 3 Arlington 16 7 Roxbury Crossing 16 10 Beverly 15 6 Hudson 15 3 Quincy 15 14 Everett 14 6 Fitchburg 14 6 Gardner 14 3 Milford 14 4 Northborough 14 2 Seekonk 14 2 Whitinsville 14 1 Canton 13 3 Peabody 13 7 Marlborough 12 5 New Bedford 12 12 Braintree 11 4 Rockland 11 2 Winthrop 11 2 Dorchester Center 10 10 Medford 10 6 Westborough 10 2 Franklin 9 3 Lunenburg 9 1 Maynard 9 1 Natick 9 3 Randolph 9 3 Somerville 9 7 Winchendon 9 1 Wrentham 9 1 Brockton 8 8 Cambridge 8 9 Pittsfield 8 4 Taunton 8 5 Charlton 7 1 Clinton 7 1 Holliston 7 1 Kingston 7 1 Leominster 7 3 Mashpee 7 1 Oxford 7 1 Plymouth 7 4 Woburn 7 3 Allston 6 2 Amesbury 6 1 Roslindale 6 2 Roxbury 6 4 East Weymouth 5 3 Holden 5 1 Jamaica Plain 5 2 Marblehead 5 1 Newburyport 5 1 South Dartmouth 5 2 Weymouth 5 3 Brighton 4 2 Burlington 4 1 Dedham 4 1 East Boston 4 2 Middleborough 4 1 Wareham 4 1 Bridgewater 3 1 Malden 3 2 North Attleborough 3 1 Stoughton 3 1 West Roxbury 3 1 E. Boston 2 1 Hyde Park 2 1 Mattapan 2 1 Shrewsbury 2 1 South Boston 2 1 Boston 1 8 Haverhill 1 1 Lawrence 1 1 Lowell 1 2 North Weymouth 1 1 South Weymouth 1 1 (not given) 0 275 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 80 66 Norfolk 70 60 Worcester 68 76 Plymouth 60 26 Essex 59 65 Berkshire 55 9 Suffolk 49 97 Middlesex 35 82 Dukes 0 0 Franklin 0 0 Hampden 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/.