Alanna Schubach
Contributing writer
Contributing editor Alanna Schubach has over a decade of experience as a New York City-based freelance journalist. She has written about real estate for Brick Underground, Mansion Global, and Barron's. She has also contributed features, essays, and op-eds to The Nation, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and The Village Voice. She won a National Association of Real Estate Editors’ silver award in 2018 for her Ask an Expert column for Brick Underground. She is also a fiction writer and a creative writing teacher, and currently lives in Brooklyn.
Posts by Alanna Schubach:
Ask Sam: My luxury building doesn't have the amenities it promised and the rent is going up. Can we push back?
May 24, 2023 - 13:30 PM
If your lease specifies certain amenities—which leases rarely do—then failure to provide them is a breach of contract, and tenants would be entitled to a reduction in their rent, says attorney Sam Himmelstein.
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Ask Sam: How high will the Rent Guidelines Board raise rents for stabilized tenants?
May 10, 2023 - 14:30 PM
Tenant attorney Sam Himmelstein expects rent hikes for stabilized tenants to be middle of the Rent Guidelines Board's proposed ranges.
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Ask Sam: Our landlord didn't fix a broken front door lock and my bike was stolen. Does he owe me?
April 26, 2023 - 14:30 PM
All NYC tenants are legally entitled to front doors that lock. If your landlord fails to repair a broken lock, here's what you can do.
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Ask Sam: A new twist in a fight against a landlord who tenants say illegally de-regulated their apartments
April 12, 2023 - 12:30 PM
The case concerned how to calculate the legal rent for apartments that were illegally destabilized while the owner received J-51 tax benefits.
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Ask Sam: My landlord didn't send a lease renewal. Should I ask for it?
March 22, 2023 - 10:30 AM
If you've lived in your NYC apartment, two or more years, landlords must give 90 days’ notice if raising the rent over 5 percent or not renewing your lease.
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Ask Sam: How do I make the switch from subletter to tenant of a rent-stabilized apartment?
March 8, 2023 - 12:30 PM
As the subletter of a rent-stabilized apartment you may be entitled to become the tenant through a legal doctrine known as illusory tenancy, but this could put you at odds with the primary tenant you are subletting from, says Sam Himmelstein, an attorney at Himmelstein, McConnell, Gribben & Joseph.
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