Renting

‘There must be some kind of balance’ Somerville tenants write to notorious new landlord

157 Summer Street, a property that was recently purchased by the infamous Anwar Faisal of Alpha Management. Dina Rudick/Globe Staff

By Megan Turchi

May 19, 2016

1 minute to read

A letter written by tenants from 163, 157, and 155 Summer Street in Somerville to their new landlord, Anwar Faisal, begins by noting that many of them have been living on Summer Street for more than 10 years and have “had a good quality of life in these buildings.”

Then the letter says that some tenants have received notice of “very large rent increases ranging from $300-$2,000” that would force them to move out. It goes on to list a number of basic standards the tenants expect Faisal’s company, Alpha Management Corporation, to meet.

“There must be some kind of balance between the goal of maximum profit in real estate and the needs of ordinary people to protect our homes and our communities,” the tenants write.

Faisal, who was a major subject in “Shadow Campus,” a 2014 multi-part series by The Boston Globe’s investigative Spotlight team that uncovered poor conditions in many rental buildings occupied by college students in Boston, purchased more than 100 apartments in Somerville last February.

Earlier this week, the Somerville Journal wrote that 60 of Faisal’s new tenants came together to write a petition, informing him of their grievances since his took over management of their buildings and the changes they wanted to see.

The acting representative of the tenant’s group and one of Faisal’s new tenants, Abigail Taylor, gave Boston.com a copy of the petition.

It’s not just the high rents — tenants cite other issues since the change of management, such as “poor communications with tenants regarding the status of their current leases, unwarranted reclassification of rooms in our apartments (dining rooms being reassigned as bedrooms), issues with notifying tenants about apartment entry, heating issues, [and] rodent issues.”

The petition urges Faisal to learn who the tenants are, to keep rents consistent among apartments with the same floor plan, to provide a clear way to communicate with the management company, and to only raise rent 5 to 7 percent per year, as he had previously promised in the Somerville Journal.

Taylor said Faisal has not yet responded to the petition. Faisal could not be reached for comment for this story, despite several phone calls and an email to Alpha Management Corporation.