You are eight months into a twelve-month lease and you need to leave. Subletting looks like the obvious answer, and it often is — but done carelessly it leaves you paying rent for a place you do not live in, or losing a deposit you were counting on.
Here is the order that actually works: get permission first, screen properly, document everything, and keep your name clean for the next landlord.
Almost every lease says something about subletting, and it will be one of three things:
Ask your landlord in writing, and keep the reply. A verbal yes is worth nothing if the arrangement goes wrong six weeks later.
Subletting without the permission your lease requires can put your tenancy and your deposit at risk, and it follows you — a landlord reference is the thing you will need for your next application. Always get consent in writing first.
This is the part most people get wrong. In a normal sublet, you remain the tenant. The subletter pays you; you still pay the landlord.
Which means, unless your landlord agrees otherwise in writing:
The alternative is a lease assignment or a lease transfer, where the new person takes over the lease entirely and you walk away clean. Assignment is better for you and harder to get agreed. Ask for it first — the worst answer is no, and then you sublet instead.
Ask this exact question: “Would you consider assigning the lease to an approved replacement tenant, rather than a sublet?” Many landlords prefer it too — they get a tenant they screened directly, with no middle layer.
In rough order of how well they work:
Time it right: start looking six to eight weeks before you need to leave. Sublets move fastest at the start of a month and around academic terms.
You are taking on a landlord’s risk, so do a landlord’s checks. At minimum:
Then pass the file to your landlord for approval. Presenting a screened candidate with documents attached gets a yes far more often than asking whether subletting is allowed in principle.
Never accept a deposit or first rent before you have met the person and verified their identity and income. Overpayment scams — where someone sends more than asked and requests the difference back — target sublets specifically.
Whatever you agree, write it down and have both parties sign. A sublet agreement should state:
Then do the handover properly: photograph every room before they move in, and again when they leave. Those two sets of photos are what stand between you and a damage charge on your own deposit. The move-in / move-out checklist template works for a sublet handover exactly as it does for a tenancy.
Keep the paper trail in one place. If your landlord uses My Rental Spot, the lease, the condition report and every message sit in your tenant portal, timestamped. When the sublet ends and someone questions a mark on a wall, the record already exists.
Three situations where you should do something else:
If you are leaving for good rather than temporarily, the sequence in our move-out checklist applies — notice, cleaning, documentation, deposit.
In a sublet you stay on the lease and remain responsible to the landlord. In an assignment, the new tenant takes over the lease and your responsibility ends. Assignment is cleaner for you but needs the landlord’s agreement.
Generally yes, and many leases require their consent. What counts as a reasonable refusal varies by state and by lease. Present a properly screened candidate — a refusal is much less likely when the file is complete.
Usually you, because your deposit with the landlord stays where it is. Say so explicitly in the written agreement, along with what it covers and when it comes back.
Charging more than your own rent is prohibited in some places and resented almost everywhere. Charging the same is the norm and the easiest to defend.
This is the main reason to have fixed dates in writing and the landlord’s consent on file. If it happens, speak to your landlord immediately — and get advice, because removing an occupant has legal requirements that differ by state.
Two to six weeks in most markets if the price is right and the listing is specific. Start six to eight weeks out so you are not accepting whoever turns up last.
Lease documents, condition reports and every message stored and timestamped — so a sublet does not cost you the reference you need for your next place.
100% free forever. No monthly fees, no per-unit pricing, unlimited properties.
Get Started Free →Want more guides for renters?
← Explore More Getting Started Articles