Year 2021 Summary Process Filings Remain Below Pre-Pandemic Baseline

Residential summary process filings – the first step to starting the eviction cycle in court – settled down to a baseline consistently lower than the level of filings before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a MassLandlords updated data summary for 2021.

This graph of statewide housing and district court data shows an initial spike in summary process filings in November and December 2020, followed by a rapid decline and relatively low baseline through 2021. The orange lines depict a range of filings that would be expected for 2021 if in accord with the range of filings in 2019, before the pandemic. Image: cc by-sa 4.0 MassLandlords.

After a spike of summary process filings in late 2020, following the Oct. 17, 2020, expiration of the state’s eviction moratorium, numbers of court cases initiated for eviction dropped back sharply in early 2021 and have remained within a range lower than pre-pandemic.

The 2021 snapshot of filings was compiled using public records from district and housing courts across the state. MassLandlords began publishing weekly reports beginning the week ending Oct. 24, 2020.

The 2021 summary process snapshot analyzes all cases filed during the year, beginning with the first case filed on Jan. 4, 2021, and ending with cases Dec. 31, 2021.

Nearly Half Pre-Pandemic Average

The total number of summary process filings in Massachusetts in 2021 was 22,792. That equals an average of 62 cases filed per day. The maximum was 130 cases filed in a single day. The lowest number of cases filed in a day was 44.

The 2021 total is substantially lower than total summary process filings in 2019 (39,594). That total is within the range of filings every year for the decade before 2020 when the pandemic first struck. In the 12 years before 2019, formal eviction filings ranged between 37,051 and 41,812 per year.

In 2020, summary process filings were extremely low compared to other years due to an eviction moratorium imposed by the state from March 2020 to Oct. 17, 2020.

Eviction Moratorium Effects

It’s possible that 2021 eviction filings have remained relatively low due to lingering effects from the pandemic.

For the first half of the year, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eviction moratorium remained in place. Though the federal moratorium was legally precarious and effectively struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in August 2021, it likely had a dampening effect on court filings for eviction.

Also, several municipalities, including Boston, Somerville and Malden, issued their own (also legally refuted) eviction moratoriums. While local moratoriums have been challenged in court, they likely account for a portion of the lower filings.

That said, it bears pointing out that, while an eviction moratorium remained in place in Malden through Feb. 28, 2022, that city’s district court is among the leaders in summary process filings for 2021.

A steady stream of government rental assistance is also likely a primary reason for the lower case count in 2021.

Nonpayment Among Single Renters

The most common cause of summary process filings in 2021 was nonpayment, a logical statistic following a year of economic depression due to Covid-19 pandemic economic downturns. More than 60% (13,829) of cases were for nonpayment, followed by cases filed for cause (18.7% or 4,262), no fault/no cause stated (17.3% or 3,943), other (2.4%) and foreclosure (0.9%).

Single-person households were the most common type among all summary process filings, accounting for 69.6% (15,852). Two-person households accounted for 18.8% (4,274) of cases filed, three-person households for 3.1% (705), four-person households for 1% (235) and less than 1% for remaining categories.

Regional Data

The northeast housing court recorded the highest number of eviction filings with 4,136, followed by the central (3,864), western (3,631), southeast (3,230), eastern (2,889) and metro-south (2,021) housing courts. Municipal district courts were led by Quincy (294 filings), Lynn (180), Malden (173) and Pittsfield (163).

District courts with the fewest eviction filings were Ipswich, Natick and Westborough.

Viewed in per capita terms, the statistics also reflect a higher percentage of eviction filings among urban communities, in general, in accordance with expectations. To show an equitable contrast among Massachusetts communities, the reports measure eviction filings as a rate per 100,000 residents. Population statistics are based on the 2010 U.S. Census.

Fall River leads among cities atop the list of summary process filings with a rate of 1,050 per 100,000. New Bedford (with 895 per 100,000), North Adams (787/100,000), Fitchburg (768/100,000) and Worcester (745/100,000) also occupy the top of the list.

Counties with the highest cases filed are Middlesex, Bristol and Plymouth. Rural and island counties, such as Hampshire, Franklin, Dukes and Nantucket had the lowest rates of filings.

However, when compared with rates of renter households, Suffolk County leads the way in summary process filings, with Barnstable County showing the fewest.

Attorney Representation

More than 80% of plaintiffs in summary process cases (18,288) had attorney representation, compared with less than 2% (439) of defendants. This makes sense considering that most (65.8%) summary process cases are filed by corporations. In Massachusetts, corporations and LLCs (limited liability companies) are required to be represented by an attorney in all court cases except small claims cases under $7,000. (Even if you are a landlord with only a few properties, if you incorporated or registered as an LLC in order to protect your assets, showing up for a court case without attorney representation runs the substantial risk of having your suit dismissed and possibly having a default entered against you.)

Past reports have shown that, among unincorporated housing providers (for whom attorney representation is not legally mandated), more than half choose not to hire an attorney.

Individual persons, appearing in court either as plaintiffs or defendants, are not required to be represented by an attorney and may represent themselves (appearing pro se) in court. Defendants in 99.7% of eviction filings are people, not corporate entities. More than 98% (22,353) of those defendants represented themselves in summary process court cases.

As for plaintiffs, 34.2% were not corporate entities; 19.8% (4,504) of those plaintiffs appeared before the court pro se, the data shows.

Future Trends?

So far, the MassLandlords data reports paint a picture of summary process cases (and, presumably, resultant evictions) at a much lower rate than has been predicted. Despite projections, in media and elsewhere, of a wave of evictions following expiration of eviction moratoriums, no such onslaught has yet occurred in Massachusetts. In fact, the numbers of eviction cases initiated in 2021 was at nearly half the yearly number reported in the years before the pandemic, likely thanks in large part to rental assistance.

MassLandlords’ continued weekly data reports will continue to be an effective tool in ascertaining whether eviction filings will remain lower on average, or will trend upward with lessening pandemic restrictions.