Landlord with Allston/Brighton ties lashed for Katrina evictions

Landlord with Boston ties lashed for Katrina evictions - The Boston Globe
Leonard J. Samia, one of Boston's largest and most notorious landlords who owns many buildings in Allston and Brighton, is evicting tenants from a building he owns in the New Orleans suburb of Terrytown. Many say he is using the chaos of the Katrina aftermath to take advantage of these tenants.
Reputation among tenant advocates precedes magnate - The Boston Globe
Residents of Allston and Brighton are familiar with the Samia name. His offices are on Birmingham Parkway in Brighton and he owns many properties here. (I am looking out the window of my house at a For Sale sign he has in front of a property he owns on Mansfield Street.) In 1999, a three-story deck at a Samia-owned apartment building in Allston collapsed, injuring 15 people. As a result, Samia was cited with nine building code violations, including operating an illegal boarding house. City inspectors said the two-year-old deck had been attached to the building with only nails.