When you sublet, you usually remain the tenant of record. The landlord can still look to you for rent, damage, and every other term of the lease, even while someone else lives in the unit and pays you. That is why a sublet is worth documenting in detail before the subtenant moves in. Adding a roommate to your lease is a different question, covered in the roommate agreement checklist. This checklist is observational: it describes what a sublet commonly involves, and the legal judgment about your own lease is yours.
1. What Your Lease Allows
Whether you can sublet at all is decided by the lease first.
- Subletting clause. Find whether the lease permits subletting, prohibits it, or allows it only with the landlord’s consent. The subletting restriction clause shows how these terms are commonly drafted.
- Consent standard. Confirm whether the landlord may refuse consent at will, or whether the lease limits refusal to stated grounds such as the subtenant’s credit or occupancy.
- Fees and conditions. Find any administrative fee, screening requirement, or additional deposit the lease attaches to a sublet before the landlord will approve it.
2. Get the Approval in Writing
A verbal okay is among the most common sources of later disputes.
- Written landlord approval. Confirm the approval names the subtenant, the unit, and the dates of occupancy, and that it came from the landlord or its manager in writing.
- Sublet versus assignment. Find out whether the arrangement is a sublease, where you keep the lease, or an assignment, where the lease itself transfers. The lease assignment and transfer guide explains how the two differ.
- Notice timing. Confirm how far in advance the lease requires a sublet request, since a late request can be refused on timing alone.
3. Screen the Subtenant
You are vouching for this person to the landlord, whatever they do.
- Identity and income. Confirm the subtenant’s identity and proof of income, and any screening the landlord applies to new occupants.
- Occupancy count. Find whether the subtenant plus the existing occupants stay within the occupancy limit in the lease and in local rules.
- Rental history. Confirm the subtenant’s prior landlords and any evictions or unresolved disputes you can verify through references they provide.
4. The Money: Rent, Deposit, and Any Markup
The money terms decide whether the sublet stays cooperative.
- Rent the subtenant pays. Confirm the amount, the due dates, and the payment method, and check the lease for any cap on what a tenant may collect from a subtenant.
- Markup or profit. Find whether the lease restricts charging more than your own rent. Many leases do, and some give the landlord a share of any excess; see the subletting restriction clause.
- Deposit and utilities. Confirm who holds the subtenant’s deposit, who returns it, and how utilities, internet, and shared costs are split.
5. The Sublease Itself and Your Continuing Liability
A written sublease is what protects you when the subtenant defaults or causes damage.
- You remain on the hook. Confirm that under the original lease the landlord can still hold you responsible for rent and damage the subtenant causes. The sublease governs your claims against the subtenant, not the landlord’s claims against you.
- Damage and repairs. Find who pays for damage, and who reports repairs to the landlord, so that a subtenant’s problem does not reach you first as a surprise.
- End dates and early exit. Confirm the sublease ends no later than your own lease, and what happens to rent and occupancy if your lease ends early; see how to break a lease.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I sublet my apartment without the landlord’s permission?
- Often not. Many leases prohibit subletting or allow it only with written consent, and breaching a no-sublet term can give the landlord grounds for default. Read the subletting clause first, and check whether your state limits the grounds a landlord may use to refuse consent.
- Am I still responsible for rent if my subtenant stops paying?
- Generally yes, under the original lease. Subletting usually leaves you as the tenant of record, so the landlord can pursue you for rent and for damage the subtenant causes. Your remedy against the subtenant comes from the sublease itself, which is why a written sublease with clear payment and default terms matters.
- What is the difference between subletting and assigning a lease?
- In a sublease you keep your place on the lease and the subtenant pays you. In an assignment you transfer the whole lease to a new tenant, and the landlord may release you from future obligations if it agrees. The lease usually defines which arrangement it allows, and the two carry different responsibilities.
- Can I charge my subtenant more than I pay in rent?
- Only if the lease allows it. Many leases restrict or prohibit profit from subletting, and some give the landlord a share of any excess. Check the subletting terms and any rent-markup language before setting the subtenant’s rent.