A recent fire in Allston has sparked an inquiry into whether the landlord violated housing laws.

 The home had 17 residents at the time of the fire; one, BU student Binland Lee, was killed in the blaze. WCVB reports that the city of Boston’s Inspectional Services Department is has opened an investigation into the conditions in the apartment.

 Regulations on the number of student or otherwise unrelated adults have been a matter of some controversy in the Bay State. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is currently reviewing a case involving a new Worcester zoning ordinance which requires landlords who rent a single apartment to four or more unrelated adults to follow the regulations governing dorms, frats, and other "lodging houses", which require update fire alarms and sprinkler systems. 

 In Boston, a zoning ordinance passed in 2008 limits the number of undergraduate students living in a single apartment to no more than four. Some of the residents of the Allston building were students, but it is not yet clear how many.

 The state’s sanitary regulations also require a minimum of 150 square feet of living space for the first tenant, and 100 square feet for each additional person. The first tenant must also have at least 70 square feet of bedroom space, plus 50 square feet for additional person. According to real estate records provided by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, the home at 87 Linden St. was assessed as a two-family property with 2,962 square feet of living space and nine bedrooms. It was assessed at $615,000.

 Anna Belokurova, the landlord, owns two other properties in Boston, including an Allston three-family home, according to The Warren Group’s data.

[Editor’s note: The original version of this story misstated the limits on the number of undergraduate students who can legally live in a single apartment.]