Boston real estate giant Anwar Faisal said he was going to be a good landlord to the tenants living in the 100 housing units he purchased along Summer Street in Somerville last February. According to tenants however, those promises have not been kept.

Boston real estate giant Anwar Faisal told the Journal he was going to be a good landlord to the tenants living in the 100 housing units he purchased along Summer Street in Somerville last February. He said he was going to keep the buildings well maintained and would not raise rents more than 7 percent the first year. According to tenants however, those promises have not been kept.

About 60 of Faisal’s new tenants signed a petition that was hand-delivered to the offices of his Allston-based property management company, Alpha Management, two weeks ago. They complained about surging rents, in at least one case up 42 percent, disorganization, and poor maintenance of the buildings. The petition has gone unanswered, according to several tenants.

For Bethany Gordon and her husband Matt Furtado, this is frustrating. The couple has lived at their 155 Summer St. home for the past four years and planned on staying a few years longer. Furtado said he recently found rats running around their building’s trash that sat in uncovered bags on the the building’s front lawn overnight, and was forced to replace moldy vinyl under their sink himself because their maintenance staff didn’t respond to calls.

The couple was also told the $1,700 monthly rent for their one-bedroom apartment was going to go up to $2,200 when their lease ends in September. They were able to negotiate that down to $1,900 per month but still, a nearly 12 percent increase is out of their price range.

“We are lucky to live in the neighborhood we were living in and it’s a great building and we were hoping to live here for a few more years at least,” Gordon said. “This was the most well taken care of building we had been living in, and a lot of that has changed, unfortunately.”

These complaints are not new for Faisal. The Brookline resident was the subject of a 2014 Boston Globe Spotlight Team investigation, which revealed he became wealthy by purchasing and operating apartment complexes around Boston that often house students. The “Shadow Campus” series alleged that the units he rented out to students were in poor condition, overcrowded and often in violation of safety and building codes.

Faisal in February set his sights on Somerville, purchasing a pair of adjacent 116-year-old apartment complexes for $31 million, including a four-story 155-157 Summer St. complex and a three-story 151- 153, and 163 Summer St. building next door. He said he had plans to purchase more apartments in the city in the future.

On Friday, Faisal defended his most recent rent spikes and the maintenance of his new buildings. He said he had three Alpha staff members maintaining the building while the old owner only had one, and that even with the raises, his rents were below market value for the area.

“The rents are extremely low so we are recovering some of the expenses … We want to pay the bill. We want to maintain the building,” Faisal told the Journal. “It’s still below the market -- why should they be complaining?”

Rising rents

Abigail Taylor said she has her doubts that the rent at her 163 Summer St. apartment will stay below market rate when it increases 42 percent after her lease expires at the end of June.

Taylor said she went to the Alpha management offices in March to to pick up a sublease for her new roommate. When she arrived, she was asked by staff to sign a brand new lease, which turned the dining room of her two-bedroom apartment she’s been living at for three years into a third bedroom and raised the rent from $2,200 to $4,200.

Alpha staff reduced the price for the three bedroom to $3,200 after she told them she couldn’t afford that amount, but she told them she would get back to them 90 days before her lease expires.

Taylor said an ad on Craigslist.com. about a month later showed the apartment above her unit with the same layout going as a two-bedroom apartment for $2,500 per month.

“I don’t think he’s really aware of what the layout of my apartment really is,” Taylor said. “I am waiting for the 90 days before I make my decision but I just don’t think I am going to be able to afford living here anymore, and it’s really sad.”

Faisal said he is not sure if Alpha Management was asking for rent above market rate in that particular instance, but if they were, he would correct the mistake if she asked. Still, he said even if one unit is above, he’s still got a good track record and guesses rents at both buildings on average increased no more than 7 percent.

“One above market? What’s wrong with that?” Faisal said. “That’s our goal is to be below the market.”

Faisal said he was still keeping rental prices stable for veterans, disabled, elderly or people on social security living in the building, but raising rents on people working in the financial sector. He said they are raising rents based on a market research for the neighborhood conducted by a broker.

But Christine Tassia, who moved out of 163 Summer St. at the end of March, said she didn’t think Alpha staff had a grasp on how much each unit cost.

She said after Faisal bought the building, Alpha staff wanted to raise the rent of her two-bedroom apartment from $1,825 per month to $2,600. When she called the main office to inform them she would not be renewing her lease when it expires, the Alpha staff member asked her how much she was paying and how much she could pay.

“They were very pushy, very just short on the phone. They don’t really seem to have an understanding what the units are,” Tassia told the Journal. “When you do call them they don’t really take note as to what you are saying to them. They don’t document their communication with you and they are rude. They are just rude and they don’t have a sense of what their properties are.”

Poor management alleged

Tassia said even trying to move out was difficult. She said she would get short notice from realtors wanting to showing her apartment. One weekend, a realtor called saying they were going to show her apartment with less than an hour’s notice, then didn’t end up coming at all.

She said she also called Alpha staff on several occasions giving them notice that she was leaving when her lease ends but continued getting calls and texts about not receiving the next month’s rent.

Tassia said she experienced other management problems during her short time living under Alpha’s care. In March, her cat caught a mouse in her apartment, the first rodent she’s seen at the complex since she moved there three years prior. Some of her neighbors also reported mouse sightings around that time.

She said Alpha staff never fully addressed the issue by treating the entire building. They just filled holes under the stove with steel wool.

Christoper Wand, who has lived at his 155 Summer St. two-bedroom apartment for three years said he is moving out when his lease expires at the end of July. Besides his rent being raised $250 per month to $1,950, he has experienced many other disturbances.

Wand said Alpha staff on several occasions conducted work on the building’s water without notice, unexpectedly leaving him without hot water. He said they at one point changed the locks to the front door without telling anyone, but then the locks didn’t work right and people couldn’t get into the building.

“For us it's less about the money and about feeling respected and them knowing what’s going on and know about the building and knowing about us,” Wand said. “It would be pretty sad to have to leave this building. It’s a beautiful building… It would be a shame to see it become like the stories of Alpha’s other buildings.”

Follow Danielle McLean on Twitter @DMcLeanWL or email her at dmclean@wickedlocal.com.