Subletting Your Apartment: Rules and Risks

You can sublet your apartment if your lease allows it or your landlord consents, so get that consent in writing before a subtenant moves in. State law can change the answer: New York gives tenants in buildings with four or more units a right to sublet with consent the landlord cannot unreasonably refuse, and Texas bars subletting during a lease without the landlord's prior consent. Subletting does not take you off the lease: the subtenant pays you, and you stay responsible to the landlord for the full rent and any damage the subtenant causes.

Can you sublet your apartment?

Start with the subletting clause in your lease. California's tenant guide, published by the state Department of Real Estate, describes how the common versions work:

• The lease bans subletting or requires consent. You need the landlord's permission first.
• The lease says nothing about subletting. In California you may sublet, but the guide advises talking to the landlord first, because subleases usually do not work out smoothly unless everyone has agreed in writing.

State law can override or add to the lease:

If your New York apartment is rent stabilized (covered by the state's rent regulation system), the Attorney General's tenant guide lists extra limits: you must have kept the apartment as your primary residence and intend to return, you can sublet for no more than two years in any four-year period, and you can charge the subtenant no more than the legal regulated rent, plus a 10% surcharge if you leave it furnished.

Renting your place by the night counts too. California's guide notes that most rental agreements bar short-term rentals through sites such as Airbnb and VRBO, and that many local laws also prohibit them and carry heavy fines. For help reading the rest of your lease, see our guide to understanding your lease terms.

Subletting vs. assigning your lease

A sublease and an assignment both put someone else in your apartment, but they leave different people responsible to the landlord:

A full release takes a novation: a written agreement, signed by you, the landlord, and the new tenant, that makes the new tenant the only one responsible. A sublease fits a temporary absence or a need for help with the rent. If you are leaving for good, ask the landlord about an assignment with a release, or see our guide to breaking a lease early for your other options.

How to ask your landlord for consent

1. Read the clause. Note whether the lease requires written consent and lists information the landlord wants.
2. Send a written request. In New York, send it by certified mail, return receipt requested, with the sublease term, the subtenant's name and home and business addresses, your reason for subletting, your address during the sublease, the written consent of any co-tenant or guarantor, and a copy of the proposed sublease, with your lease attached if available. Both you and the proposed subtenant must acknowledge that the submitted sublease is a true copy. Outside New York, include the same details unless your lease asks for something different.
3. Track the landlord's deadline. In New York, the landlord can ask for more information within 10 days of your mailing and must answer within 30 days of your request or of your reply to its questions, whichever is later. No answer counts as consent. If the landlord refuses unreasonably, the law allows you to sublet, but a court decides any dispute over whether the refusal was reasonable. Proceeding without consent risks an eviction challenge. You may recover court costs and attorney's fees if the court finds the landlord acted in bad faith. If the refusal is reasonable, you cannot sublet and remain bound by the lease.
4. Get the consent in writing. Keep it with your sublease and give the subtenant a copy.

Subletting a room while you or your roommates stay

California's guide treats renting a room to someone who moves in with you and shares the rent as a sublease, so the same rules apply. Texas RioGrande Legal Aid explains that once you sublet, you act as the subtenant's landlord, and unless the subtenant signed a separate lease with the landlord, you are responsible for the subtenant's unpaid rent or property damage.

On a joint lease, your co-tenants are responsible to the landlord for the full rent along with you, so a subtenant who stops paying leaves all of you short. Get your roommates' agreement in writing before you sublet; New York requires each co-tenant's written consent as part of the sublet request.

New York has different rules for a roommate and a subtenant. Under the state's Roommate Law (Real Property Law section 235-f), if you are the only tenant on the lease and still live there as your primary residence, you can share the apartment with one additional occupant, plus that person's dependent children, without the landlord's consent, as long as you tell the landlord the occupant's name within 30 days. The sublet process above applies when you move out and someone takes your place. In a rent-stabilized apartment, you cannot charge a roommate more than their proportionate share of the rent; with one tenant and one roommate, that means no more than half the apartment's total rent.

Your renters insurance usually protects only you, the policyholder; California's guide says a roommate must buy their own policy to cover their belongings. Ask your subtenant to get one, and call your insurer before the sublet starts. See our guide to renters insurance when you sublet.

What to put in a written sublease

California's guide recommends a written sublease, signed by you and the subtenant, that is consistent with your own lease and covers:

• Rent: the amount, the due date, and where the subtenant sends it.
• Utilities: who pays for gas, electric, water, trash, and telephone or internet.
• Dates: when the sublease begins and ends. End it on or before your own lease's end date.
• Your belongings: a list of what you leave in the unit, and how the subtenant must care for it and the unit.
• Your lease's limits: the subtenant should not get greater rights than you have. If your lease bans pets, the subtenant cannot have one, and if you rent month to month, do not promise the subtenant a fixed term.

Add these items as well:

• The landlord's written consent, attached to the sublease.
• Any deposit you collect, with an amount within applicable state or local caps, only legally permitted deductions, and the mandatory deadline for refunding the balance and providing an itemized accounting. These rules apply to you as the subtenant's landlord. California, for example, requires the refund and accounting within 21 days after move-out and does not allow deductions for ordinary wear and tear.
• Dated move-in photos of each room, shared with the subtenant.
• What happens if the subtenant pays late, leaves early, or damages the unit, including how you will collect what they owe.

What happens if the sublet goes wrong?

• The subtenant stops paying. You still owe the landlord the full rent on time. Pay it, then pursue the subtenant under your sublease.
• The subtenant damages the unit. The landlord can hold you responsible for the repairs, and you can seek the cost from the subtenant.
• The subtenant will not leave. You are the subtenant's landlord. California's guide says a landlord cannot lock a tenant out and must use formal eviction proceedings, and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid notes that only a court can order an eviction, so plan on going to court if a subtenant stays past the end date.
• The landlord learns of a sublet it did not approve. In New York, a sublet that skips the section 226-b process is a substantial breach of the lease, and in California, an unauthorized sublet is an at-fault reason to end a tenancy.