Sublease Agreement Templates by State

Q: What Is a Sublease Agreement?

A Sublease Agreement is a legally binding secondary contract between the tenant of a property and a new (usually, temporary) tenant. Other terms used to denote the parties are the sublandlord (or the sublessor) and the subtenant (or the sublessee) respectively. In a wide variety of cases, the binding contract includes the owner of the place as well. Download one of our Sublease Agreement templates down below . Alternate Names: Sublet Agreement; Sublease Contract. The sublease allows the subtenant to give over the right to rent for a period of time or carry on the rent indefinitely including the rights and responsibilities it implies. This contact is used in cases when the original tenant leaves the property for a portion of their term or for the remaining term under the original lease. The subtenant pays rent to the owner of the property or to the sublandlord.

What Is a Sublease Agreement?

A Sublease Agreement is a legally binding secondary contract between the tenant of a property and a new (usually, temporary) tenant. Other terms used to denote the parties are the sublandlord (or the sublessor) and the subtenant (or the sublessee) respectively. In a wide variety of cases, the binding contract includes the owner of the place as well. Download one of our Sublease Agreement templates down below.

Alternate Names:

Sublet Agreement;
Sublease Contract.

The sublease allows the subtenant to give over the right to rent for a period of time or carry on the rent indefinitely including the rights and responsibilities it implies. This contact is used in cases when the original tenant leaves the property for a portion of their term or for the remaining term under the original lease. The subtenant pays rent to the owner of the property or to the sublandlord.

Sublease Agreement Templates by State

Alabama	Hawaii	Massachusetts	New Mexico	South Dakota
Alaska	Idaho	Michigan	New York	Tennessee
Arizona	Illinois	Minnesota	North Carolina	Texas
Arkansas	Indiana	Mississippi	North Dakota	Utah
California	Iowa	Missouri	Ohio	Vermont
Colorado	Kansas	Montana	Oklahoma	Virginia
Connecticut	Kentucky	Nebraska	Oregon	Washington
Delaware	Louisiana	Nevada	Pennsylvania	West Virginia
Florida	Maine	New Hampshire	Rhode Island	Wisconsin
Georgia	Maryland	New Jersey	South Carolina	Wyoming

What Should Be in a Sublease Agreement?

As the original tenant, you assume full responsibility for all items damaged or rent not paid. It is therefore important to protect yourself by carefully choosing your tenants and by writing a good apartment Sublet Agreement. Apart from the full names and the address of the property, write down the expected term of the agreement, define the financial responsibilities of the future tenant, list all additional obligations concerning the cleaning of the territory, shoveling the snow, mowing the lawn, taking care of the garbage, etc.

How to Sublet an Apartment?

Subletting a place is easy as long as you have your landlord consent in writing, or the terms of your lease give provisions for your right to sublet without asking for your landlord’s permission. You do so by placing an ad in a local newspaper or post an ad online (Craiglist, Kijiji, etc.). Remember, subletting a place often means lowering your rent. Do not forget to find the original lease contract, as it will be a binding contract for the sublessee as well. Make sure you are available to show the property to the potential sublessees. In order to save yourself the time and trouble, do verify right away if the interested people have a steady income, pets, and can move in when required and anything else that is important in your situation.

If the new tenants are to your liking and they equally like the place, it is the time to check if they qualify. Once the rental application is filled out, you can screen the applicant by performing a credit and background check, do an income and employment verification, and contact their landlord reference.

How to Get out of a Sublet Agreement?

There are various scenarios of breaking a lease, depending on if you want to move out as soon as possible, if you do not want to move in after you signed the contract, or if you changed your mind a few months after you had moved in. In all cases, it is best to discuss the issue with your sublandlord and/or with the landlord first, and in case it doesn’t work out, contact your Tenant union or your Landlord and Tenant Board for a piece of advice.

The Sublease Agreement you signed is a legal contract, so you will have to either find another tenant or consider a termination offer. In any case, prepare to pay. In some cases, you can negotiate an early termination of a sublease. You have to give a 30-day notice, pay till the end of the month, and sometimes an amount in addition to that.