how a sublease works
a lease is a contract between a property owner and a tenant that transfers the owner s rights to the exclusive possession and use of the real estate property to the tenant for an agreed upon period the lease states the length of time the contract is to run and the amount of the tenant s rent in legal terms the tenant s legal right to possess the property is deemed tenancy subleasing occurs when the tenant transfers a part of their legal tenancy to a third party as a new tenant subleasing can be established unless the original lease forbids it however in most cases the owner must be notified and must approve any subletting arrangement created by the tenant control over the subletting process could be written into the original lease so that the owner has some control over who uses and or occupies their property a tenant who sublets property must understand that subleasing does not release them from their obligations on the original contracted lease the tenant is responsible for paying rent and for repairs or damage to the property that means that if a new subtenant does not pay rent for three months the original tenant that subleased the property is liable to the landlord for the overdue rent amount and any late fees in turn the subtenant is liable to the original tenant for the unpaid rent subleasing and state lawsthe laws of many states and local municipalities affect a tenant s right to sublease these laws may allow an individual to sublease under certain conditions even if their contract with the landlord forbids it for example in new york city a tenant who lives in a building with four or more units has the right to sublease as long as the landlord consents or if they deny the sublet on unreasonable grounds any lease provision restricting a tenant s right to sublease is void as a matter of public policy 1in san francisco a tenant can replace a roommate with another even when prohibited by a written lease as long as the replacement meets the landlord s application screening standards 2 for example a landlord might demand a certain credit score where a tenant is concerned subleases can apply to both residential and commercial properties 