The Samia Companies LLC

The people writing negative reviews on here must have dealt with completely different Samia employees than I do. I have lived in a Samia apartment in Allston since June 2015 and it has been great. The property manager, Alexandra Ann, always responds quickly and courteously. All of our maintenance requests have been addressed in a timely manner. The maintenance people are extremely nice and have gone above and beyond. They shovel all walkways and even our private deck when it snows. We unfortunately had to end our lease early (nothing to do with Samia), and Alexandra has been very helpful and up front about the entire process. I definitely recommend renting from Samia. Don’t be discouraged by the negative reviews on this page; I honestly have experienced nothing remotely bad with this company.

Live in one of their properties, can’t wait for the lease to end. Maintenance is horrible the whole building smells like trash and weed. We have complained and nothing happens. We called maintenance because we had water leaking from our bathroom ceiling and they showed up 12 days later. We have had the worst experience in this building. Every now and then the hot water doesn’t work and we’ve had to wait hours before they fix it.

1 Star is generous but Unilocal doesn’t allow users to rank 0 stars, which is what I’d give this company. Apartment was in horrid condition when I moved in: floors were grimy, shelves in the pantry were covered in dust and sticky who knows what, no shades on the windows, broken curtain rods, holes and marks on the walls…
I understand the previous tenants may have been responsible for the damage but HELLO that’s what a security deposit is for. I expected Samia to clean the apartment before I moved in, but apparently it wasn’t a priority.
This week, the water in my building was shut off TWICE and tenants were not informed. When I called the maintenance line, I was told there was a broken pipe that needed to be repaired and they weren’t sure when things would be finished. Really? You’re going to shut the water off on 16 units and NOT tell them ahead of time?
Save yourself the grief and don’t ever rent from this company

The apartment we rented isn’t what we expected so we had to break the lease. Alexandra Ann, our property manager was excellent, not only she tried to help us look for another apartment within the companies, she also helped us minimize the fine (for breaking the lease). She responded almost instantly for anything we ask and always in a sweet manner. Trust me, I lived in Singapore and Japan (which always famous for being good hosts) before but I was completely blown away by Alexandra’s attitude. If you rent a house from Samia, definitely ask for Alexandra as your property manager.
Maintenance is okay, but not as fast as I want. However, the guys are very polite, friendly and helpful.

Literally the worst landlord I have ever ever had. Lynn is a miserable wretch and has terrible customer service. I cannot imagine how she manages to keep this job. Maintenance is horrible. They do a half ass job. The dishwasher leaked and soaked through the floor and they just stuck down new linoleum flooring over the now sunken in floor. They take forever to get back to maintenance requests. They are truly just a miserable company. They also don’t plow your driveway appropriately after storms. We went days with a foot of snow in our driveway. DO. NOT. USE. THIS. LANDLORD. DO NOT. You will regret it.

I have been living in a Samia Apartment for 2 years and this is by far the best landlord I have had since moving to Boston in 2009, the units are very clean and affordable, especially for in the Brighton area. My property manager Olivia Peterson responds quickly to my e-​mails and when I call I actually get ahold of her. I have had a few different roommates and she has made the process very easy for all of us. The maintenance department has always addressed my issues in a prompt manner. If you don’t live in a Samia unit, you should!

Run while you still can! My husband, myself, and my 2 children have lived in A Samia companies owned Town house complex for the past 6 years. It has been the worst renting experience I have ever had since I started renting apartments. You basically have to threaten them with the health department to get any serious issues fixed. (Had a really bad issue with BLACK MOLD and it took weeks of fighting for them to replace the carpets which were so gross when we moved in). Everything breaks and will almost certainly never get fixed. Constant calls to Maintenance and you get the same annoyed employees with the same answer «We’ll send someone right out»… And MAYBE they will show up. They are extremely rude in the office dealing with any issues with your lease. Mine has been «lost» in the mail 2 years in a row and they still say it’s not their problem and that the apartment goes back up for rent since it wasn’t signed in time. The rent is absurd and constantly goes up $ 100 at a time. The on site washer and dryers are always broken. Under my kitchen sink still leaks and there is mold, so no under sink storage. Serious issues with ants and the occasional cockroach. Run while you still can. Samia Companies is the worst place to rent from. RUN!!!

I have had a wonderful experience with this company. Everything was outlined clearly in our lease. Anytime we have an issue we send an email to maintenance an they arrive in 48 hours and everything is fixed. Due to personal obligations we had to break our lease. Our Property Manager Alexandra helped us with everything and got our apartment rented for us. The lease clearly reads that we are responsible until the end of the lease if it was not occupied. We did have to pay a fee but this is also clearly outlined in the lease. They always respond.
Also maintenance is wonderful. Weekly there is someone cleaning the common areas and with all the storms this winter they did everything possible to get the lots and walks as clear as possible.
The only downside I have seen is getting and returning keys in Brighton. This is sort of a pain since we don’t live anywhere near there but even that they communicated well.
Your lease and handbook outline everything. All in all very easy to work with.

NEVER RENT THROUGH THIS COMPANY!
It is by no exaggeration when I say this is the least professional business I have ever dealt with. The house I rented and am currently «living in», and I use that term loosely, is a piece of shit. Leaks everywhere, heat that doesn’t always work, a pipe has burst as a result, and hot water that only works 50% of the time. The maintenance is a joke as well. They take multiple days to respond, and take weeks to work on projects that should take hours. Don’t expect to be adequately compensated for these issues either. I could go on and on about the countless issues I have experienced with this house and this joke of a company.
Bottom line is Samia Companies is a piss-​poor excuse of a company and I wouldn’t recommend living here if they paid me money to do so.

The worst company you can find out there. They are terrible when it comes to leases, maintenance and have no courtesy. I rented an apartment in Revere. The apartment has roaches, old old house and cracked old windows. There was no insulation in the house it was very very cold. Broken bathroom window that they never fixed. Snow in and out of windows. Wanted to cancel the lease I was told to pay rent until they would find someone else. Adm. fees and they just make so hard for you to move out. Just don’t sign any lease with them, don’t rent from them. I lived a year through HELL. And no one deserve to be treated like that. Do yourself a favor and don’t give them your hard earned money to them. LYNN MARK (property manager) you are a BITCH!

HORRIBLE HORRIBLE experiences with the Samia company for the past 2 years, their maintenance staff shows up unexpectedly. and unannounced (illegally)… and when you actually do have an issue with your unit they take weeks upon weeks to show up. Our window broke in the middle of february and no one showed up until 2 weeks later while
the heat (which we cant control) was off and our apartment was 27 degrees. The hot water has turned off for days at a time, and they show up entirely unannounced for «routine exterminations». Although they allow cats in the building we live in they spray harmful chemicals everywhere and leave the door wide open as they go in and put of your unit with no care of your animals escaping. There is far more to complain about in terms of the cleanliness of the buildings, their customer service, poor maintenance staff, and the overall quality of their units. I would expect far more for a 1600 $ a month 1 bedroom apartment the size of a walk in closet. They are the definition of Slumlords and would strongly discourage anyone from renting from this horrible company. A 1 star review is far too kind.

I really hope I could get a five-​star with a minus sign in the front for this company.
I am not a first time renter, but this company has renewed my worst expectations for everything from a leasing property. Due to the awful living conditions and unreasonable layout of the apartment, my roommate and I are trying to move out. However, we were told that we have to pay half of the admin fee and we have to keep paying the rent for the rest of the lease term until the apartment is re-​rented. I was pretty shocked to hear this kind of robbery talk. I lived in an apartment ran by Hamilton Company for two years and we only need to pay the admin fee to break out of the deal (but who would want to break the deal with such a nice apartment? so regretful that I moved out of that heaven and headed straight for hell). And they never gave us the copies of the contract we signed, and they just expect us to pay because they say so in a email.
Another ridiculous thing is that samia intended to give back my parking lot security deposit along with the security deposit of the apartment. I don’t have to mention that we don’t pay them together so I don’t see the logic link of returning them together.
I am also tired of their shortage of parking spaces in their main office. I don’t think any human being is able to speak that kind of rules in person without feeling guilt or shame. Unfortunately I could never find a guest parking spot near their building, so I don’t have the time to reason with them. I don’t know if it is a culture thing in America that you have to have every rules in front of you to talk about the details. Even if it is, I am okay, as long as they don’t try to hold back the actual contracts we signed. I hate to point out such a fact but this one is dying to come out: if you are not afraid of something, show everything out before you DEMAND such unreasonable requests.

I lived in a Brighton apartment on Gordon street for about five years. I always paid rent on time. I never was a problem to the company. While there I enjoyed heat included (which you can control by turning a knob on the side of the radiator, or open a window) and greatly appreciated that since I hate the cold. However, I can say almost nothing else positive about the experience and especially after they basically stole my money.
SAMIA DOES NOT FOLLOW THE LAW.
1: When landlords receive your deposit they must put it in an individual savings account and supply you with the name of the bank and the account number. Then yearly (if you stay), provide you with a statement.
I never was sent this information.
2: When you vacate, the landlord must send you this money in 30 days.
They sent the check to me but didn’t include my new apartment numberand it was returned. The second check was lost in the mail. After SIX months of back and forth with Mark Pasciscia I was informed that due to a policy they had that the check would have to be cancelled and the $ 50 it would cost to do so would be deducted from MY check. I have never seen this policy, nor would they send a copy to me. I also went back and read through my lease and there is no printed policy within the fine print. I asked about this and was told «Well it is our policy and it is the same if a tenant’s check is lost». When I calmly explained that it was not my fault for the check to be lost, nor theirs for a lost piece of mail and asked if we could split it, Mark said he would ask Lynn Marks. As usual, he took weeks to reply to me, and I was shocked he even did at this point, and did not even answer my question. I called Lynn. At first she was pleasant and then turned rude. Telling me that they were «busy with actual tenants» and that they did their legal part to send the (first)check on time. She would not listen to me and instead spoke over me and told me that it was inconceivable that I would not accept a measly $ 50 deduction for this. She has absolutely NO right to tell me that my money is not worth anything to me. When I did finally get the check, my apartment number was written in to the printed address clearly stating that the first check did not have my apartment number on it. With the check I was able to see which bank Samia uses and call them about the $ 50 fee to cancel and reissue a check. It is $ 25. Why was I charged $ 50? I plan to continue this until it is resolved.

3: The landlord must send you an itemized list of deductions to your deposit within 30 days of vacating the apartment.
This was never offered. I asked for it from Mark and it didn’t happen for over a month. When I spoke with Lynn she said she would while telling me that she didn’t have time to speak with me any longer in a very condescending tone. Even after I received the check (minus the $ 50), I had to email Mark for it.
I’m absolutely infuriated by this entire process and the outcome. I have gotten to the point where I contacted someone for legal help. How can such a large company get away with blatant illegal practices? I plan to continue to dig for answers and leave reviews. Tenants beware and get educated about your rights.
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They also let me to move into an apartment that had not been cleaned and is in such poor and dirty condition that it needs a seriously DEEP cleaning or to be gutted out. I took photos of all the damange to the walls that was not fixed before we moved in. The appliances were small and the space impossible to set up with living area. My stove leaked gas and the new-​looking refrigerators seal didn’t work. Because of the leaking gas I was able to get a new stove (thanks to the nice maintenance guys who went to bat for me… always be nice to the maintenance people) but it easily had the pilot light blow out which caused many issues. The kitchen its was grimy, disgusting, and had one foot of counter space. We quickly found out that if we tried to run the microwave and toaster at the same time the entire apartment would lose power to a blown fuse. The first time I called and was told I would have to wait for someone to come and I would be charged. Luckily I remembered the fuse box in the basement and was able to get power back every time without having to pay a fee. There is clearly an electrical problem because the one plug in the bathroom only had power to half of the socket and then it would only work if the celing light was on. And then the water in the shower would switch from shivering cold to screaming hot in seconds. Its an OLD building that is clearly needing a serious amount of work that will not happen until it burns down. The alarms in the building would constantly start to beep every 30 seconds for days. By alarms, I mean the central box for the entire building. Its an OLD building that is clearly needing a serious amount of work that will not happen until it burns down.

Lived in an apartment managed by Samia for the past year in Jamaica Plain. No complaints, any time I call with a problem they usually fix it within 24 hours.
There were a couple issues with hot water, but they gave us notice ahead of time that they would be working on it, so I can’t be too upset. Older buildings require a lot of maintenance. I’m renewing the lease for another year, so I’ll update my review next year. Only thing is, I wish my building allowed dogs :(but that’s probably not up to them.

Lived at a building they owned for 2 years in Waltham. One of the worst companies Ive ever had the misfortune of dealing with.
Maintenance was awful! Woman in charge would constantly hang up on me talking to me with such disrespect and that’s after i was on hold for about 20 minutes.
Another run in with maintenance happened as I went on my way to work. My car was parked in my driveway (you know… the one provided for the tenant) and the guy who came to put out trash had blocked me in.
of course at first i didn’t know whose car it was… not sure how to get this car moved yada yada… after like twenty minutes of searching for the culprit i realize its the maintenance man who was off in some other apt. building screwing up my morning with no need for it.
Helen the «property manager» was usually of no help in any situation. Lynn mark is another gem of this company. so utterly useless. she even tried to «evict» me after i had already arranged to move out. ex: i was moved out by june 1^st and my «court date» was june 10^th. give me a break woman…
I feel sorry for anyone under their rule and these 4 – 5 star reviews are clearly to try to make them look good when if you lived with them you would know better.

I was absolutely unimpressed by Samia for the year I lived in one of their buildings in Brighton. When we first moved in, the apartment was filthy. We also had to fill out and submit a sheet on which we wrote down anything that was wrong and any repairs that we were requesting. Those repairs never did happen.
The worst of all was our bathroom. When we first moved in, it was unusable. The caulking and tiles around the tub were cracked, peeling, and moldy, and there were bugs running out from inside the wall. There was a wooden shelf under the window in the shower that was moldy and rotting. The sink was covered in mold. The shower curtain rod was hanging crookedly from the ceiling by one rusty screw. We called maintenance as soon as we got there and they said «We’ll send someone right out.» No one came that day. No one came the next day. I quite literally, no exaggeration, called maintenance every day for 2 weeks demanding that someone come fix our bathroom and each time my call was answered as if it was my first time calling and I continued to be told «We’ll send someone right out.» Luckily we were still moving out of my last apartment so we were able to shower there. It wasn’t until I absolutely flipped out on them over the phone that they finally sent over Miguel who fixed everything and did a great job.
But that’s not all. We also lost hot water daily over the winter. Throughout the entire winter, I’d say we took cold or lukewarm showers 75% of the time. We called maintenance at least once per week and were always given the same «we’ll send someone over.» We were without hot water once for a period of over 24 hours and Lynn, the property manager, was unreachable. I left a voicemail stating that I would be calling the board of health and withholding our rent if it happened again.
In the spring we were absolutely fed up with calling maintenance constantly about our water and somehow my fiancé was finally able to get Lynn on the phone about our issue. She was an absolute bitch to him and said things along the lines of «Why are you calling me? Call maintenance» to which he responded that we HAD been calling maintenance almost daily at that point. He threatened to call the board of health again and it wasn’t until then that she said she’d send someone over. Honestly after that the hot water got better but by then it was almost summer.
Samia needs to do a better job with their units and maintenance. I’ve been in other buildings of theirs around the city as well. They are falling apart. It wouldn’t kill them to take a month off in between tenants and give their units the upgrades and renovations they so desperately need. And their property manager needs a reality check and to manage her maintenance staff better. I loved my apartment itself and Brighton but we couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

I am FREEZING. The boiler does not work in my building apparently. which is not great considering its around 20 degrees outside.
Don’t try to call their phone as no one will ever answer. The phone issue has been by far the thing that irritates me the most. It doesn’t seem possible to reach anyone at their main location.
Also, they lost my rent check that I left at their offices last month.
Some of the maintenance people who work here are really nice and helpful and that’s why I am upping this review to 2 stars. I think I would actually give them 3 if it were not for the fact that IT’S FREEZING in my apartment.

I would also give this a 0 star if possible. My sisters apartment flooded overnight while my fiancé and i were visiting. My fiancé came home at 2am and noticed the carpet was soaking wet. We called the emergency line for samia. We were told someone would call us back and we waited an hour. Keep in mind it is now 3am and we are so so sleepy. We called again at 3 and they said they could not get a hold of the water guy and they would calk us back. We waited another hour and decided to just sleep because we had a very imoportant day the next day and needed some sleep someone showed up at 5am. We were dead tired and we tries hard to stay up while he was there. He said they couldnt get a hold of the water guy so they called this guy. This guy said the water heater was broken and he turned it off. He said the water guy would come first thing in the morning.
The next morning, it was around 8am and we called samia to make sure water guy was coming. Instead of saying he was on his way, they said they would send him… Which means if we didnt call, no one would have came. The water guy then said the carpet guy was on his way and would be there soon. A few hours. passed and no one showed up. My fiancé waited all day at home for nothing. My sister and i were not able to complete what i came to boston to help her with because we were both exhausted and felt sick from getting no sleep the night before. That was the worst part, now i have to take time off of work and buy another flight ticket to come back and finish it! I called samia 8 times that day and everyone kept telling me that either they would call me back or the water guy was on his way. By midnight, this one lady said «this line is for emergencies only maam» … I said there is mold in my sisters carpet, we had to move everything from the bedroom into the living room, we have 3 ppl sleeping in the living room, the carpet is completely soaked, and we were told 7 times that day that the carpet guy was coming and wasted our day waiting. Was that not an emergency? Is mold and damage to your conmpanys property not an emergency? She told me to call back in the morning during normal hours. I asked to speak to her manager and she said shes not allowed to give his name. I called back later and some other guy gave me rick melansons name.
The next day, I called promptly at 9 when he was supposed to be there but of course he wasnt. The rep said she would give the message to him. I told her while i wait for his call, if she could call the carpet guy and make sure hes coming. She said they do not call the carpet guy. Which didnt make sense because the 8 times before, they said they will or did call the carpet guy… i told her i would keep calling every hour until the guy arrived and she said it was pointless cuz i would just get her and her colleagues. She said it with attitude. I called again at 10 and asked some other guy for rick. He was available. Surprise surprise he didnt call me back from earlier when that lady supposedly gave him the message. I told him the situation and like everyone else, he said the guy was on his way at 8am. It was 10am already… Anyway i told him everything that happened and he kept saying «The carpet guy is on his way.» And i was like «Yeah I was told that like 10 times yesterday.» Anyway throughout the whole conversation, he did not apologize once.
Eventually carpet guy finally showed up around 11am. He did not apologize either for being so unresponsive and late. I told him the water heater was too hot (when you turn on hot water only, it becomes scorching hot. was not like that before) and asked him if he could lower it. He said he could but it was not his job and to call Samia. He said Samia would send someone right away. And I said «I doubt it» and he said «why» and I said «I called for you 8 times yesterday and you never showed up.» And he said «I was far far away. I couldn’t even call them back.» …whatever. The water guy did come and told carpet guy that the temperature was fine… whatever. After he left, I was taking a shower, and in the middle of the shower, all the hot water went away. I called Samia to send someone else.
This company never once apologized for anything. Never gave us accurate information. And gave us so much attitude. Everyone there should be fired and the company should go bankrupt.
Luckily, my sister’s clothes and some moving boxes are all that got wet/​damaged. We spent like $ 15 washing all of her clothes. But she has to live in her living room for a few days with soaking wet carpet in half of her apartment for a few days which sucks.
I hope you go bankrupt, Samia. Especially since because of the flood and your poor customer service, my fiancé and my trip was useless. We went there to help my sister receive credit so she can graduate on time but we weren’t able to do it because we did not have enough time due to the flood. Now we have to spend another $ 600 and take PTO to go back and help her.

I wish I could rate this place a zero. TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. Their property managers /​anyone you call about maintenance repair are so rude and disgusted that you’re calling them. Their goal is to get you off the phone as quickly as possible.
When we needed maintenance to fix clogged drains, this would take 3+ days leaving us to stand in foot deep dirty bath water while showering and spit into puddles while brushing our teeth.
The ONLY UPSIDE to this awful excuse of a company is the one maintenance guy and how sweet he is. However I forget his name because he never formally introduced himself.
Needless to say after many encounters with the company and employees, we moved out as quickly as possible. We thought we were in the clear of their distasteful behavior until it came time to cash our security check…
Samia writes one check to all three tenants, spacing each name with an ‘and’ therefore indicating all tenants need to be present to cash said check. Hello!!! What?!? Our roommate moved across country I’m sorry are we supposed to buy a plane ticket for her to come cash it?! So I called samia and spoke with a property manager who tried tellig me that it wasn’t her problem and that we need to mail the check to my roommate to get her to sign it, then we could cash it at their bank, mind you, their ONLY bank is located in east bum f@&$ south Boston.
So, went to the bank, they turned us down because we needed the third roommates presence.
Upon calling samia to request a second check with one name on it, she said «well, I don’t know that this is something we can fix, let me transfer you».
Got transferred, left a message with Mark, haven’t heard back since.
HOW ARE WE SUPPOSES TO GET OUR MONEY BACK
I hate these people, they don’t deserve one star, please AVOID.

I try to call, and the phone hangs up after two rings. Then I call back a minute later and it’s busy. Then I call again and they hang up. Does anyone work here?
Lived in an apartment for a year.
Lights flickered when I used the microwave and hot water pot at the same time. Couldn’t manage to find a water setting between Wicked Hot and Freezing in the shower. The porch was slanted downward (hello, safety) and definitely not updated within the last handful of years.
Maintenance person came over with NO warning. My roommate was home but there was no knock or anything so he thought someone was breaking in.
The guy who fixed our sink was really awesome, though.
Too bad he came over because the faucet FELL OFF THE SINK.
BOOOOOOO SAMIA.