Sublease agreement template for landlords

Sublease, assignment or a new co-tenant

A tenant who asks to "sublet" may mean any of four arrangements, and each puts a different person on the hook. Settle which one it is before anyone signs.

A sublease is the only one where you keep a single tenant and never sign anything with the newcomer. That is its appeal, and its risk: you did not choose the person living in the unit. The lease itself, and how to write the subletting clause into it, is covered in how to write a lease agreement; what a lease binds in the first place is in what is a lease agreement.

Consent: your lease, then your state

Start with your own lease. If it says subletting needs your written consent, a sublet without it is a breach you can act on. If the lease is silent, state law fills the gap, and states fill it differently. Three that write the rule down:

• NYA right to sublet, with your written consent

  In a building with four or more residential units, a tenant under an existing lease has the right to sublease "subject to the written consent of the landlord in advance of the subletting." Your consent "shall not be unreasonably withheld." The request comes by certified mail, return receipt requested. You may ask for more information within 10 days of its mailing, and you answer within 30 days of the mailing, or of the extra information you asked for if that came later; silence is deemed consent. Once you consent, the tenant remains liable under the lease, and a sublet that skips these steps is a substantial breach (Real Prop. Law § 226-b, checked 2026-10-31). Rent-stabilized units carry their own rules on top.

• TXNo sublet without your prior consent

  The statute is one sentence: "During the term of a lease, the tenant may not rent the leasehold to any other person without the prior consent of the landlord" (Prop. Code § 91.005, checked 2026-10-31). It sets no reasonableness test and no deadline, so your lease clause decides how consent is asked for and given. The next section of the same chapter gives you a duty to mitigate damages if a tenant abandons in breach of the lease (§ 91.006), which is why an approved sublease can suit you better than an empty unit.

• CAThe lease clause does the work

  California's assignment-and-sublease chapter defines a lease as one "for other than residential purposes" (Civ. Code § 1995.020, checked 2026-10-31), so it does not govern an apartment. For a residential lease the subletting clause you wrote is generally the starting point; some city rent ordinances add sublet rules of their own. One reason to write it with care: if the lease lets the tenant sublet subject only to reasonable limitations and names the remedy, you may keep the lease in effect after the tenant breaches and abandons and recover rent as it comes due (Civ. Code § 1951.4, checked 2026-10-31).

Many other states say nothing specific, which leaves the lease clause as the rule. Some cities add sublet rules of their own, especially where rent is regulated. Check your state's landlord-tenant statute and your city code before you rely on a refusal.

The sublease agreement, clause by clause

Your tenant usually drafts the sublease, so your job is to read it before you consent. These are the clauses a sound one carries, in order, with what to look for in each.

1. 01Parties. Your tenant as the sublandlord and the subtenant as the occupant. You are not a party to the sublease; you appear only in a separate consent block, so signing it does not make you the subtenant's landlord.
2. 02The master lease. Identified by its date and parties, with a copy attached. The subtenant agrees to follow its rules, and the sublease says the master lease wins on any conflict.
3. 03Premises. The whole unit, or a named room plus the shared areas. Parking spaces, storage and keys are listed, because the subtenant gets only what is written down.
4. 04Term. A start date and an end date on or before the master lease's end date. A tenant cannot sublet time it does not hold, and a sublease that runs past the lease is an easy mistake to miss on a quick read.
5. 05Rent and the payment route. What the subtenant pays the tenant and when, and a line that the tenant keeps paying you the full lease rent on the lease due date. If you agree to take payments straight from the subtenant, the consent says they are credited to the tenant's account and create no tenancy with you. Some leases cap what a tenant may charge a subtenant; check yours before you agree a figure.
6. 06Deposit. Any deposit the subtenant pays goes to the tenant, who holds it as the subtenant's landlord and should follow your state's deposit rules. The deposit your tenant paid you stays where it is and still secures the master lease. The caps and return deadlines are in security deposit laws by state.
7. 07Utilities and services. Which accounts stay in the tenant's name, which the subtenant pays, and how a shared bill is split.
8. 08Use and occupancy. The occupancy limit, pets (the terms of any pet addendum should bind the subtenant too), smoking, and a ban on any further subletting without your written consent.
9. 09Condition at handover. A dated walk-through between tenant and subtenant at the start and the end, on the same form you use at move-out (move-out inspection checklist), so damage lands on the right person.
10. 10Entry and repairs. Your right of entry under the master lease carries over unchanged, and repair requests still come to you through the tenant or as the consent says. See landlord right of entry for notice periods.
11. 11Liability and insurance. The tenant stays liable to you for rent and damage; the subtenant is liable to the tenant. Ask for renters insurance with liability cover for the subtenant's term.
12. 12Ending. The sublease ends automatically when the master lease ends for any reason, including the tenant's default. Holdover by the subtenant is the tenant's problem to solve and the tenant's cost.
13. 13Signatures and your consent. Tenant and subtenant sign the sublease. Your consent is a separate signed block or letter, set out in the next section.

Your written consent, line by line

Your consent is the one document in a sublease that you write, so make it carry your protections. Keep it to one page, sign it separately from the sublease, and file both with the lease.

The "no release" and "no new tenancy" lines are what keep your tenant responsible. In New York the statute already says the tenant remains liable after you consent; elsewhere, write it down rather than rely on the general rule.

Screening the subtenant

Treat the subtenant as an applicant: the same rental application, the same written criteria, the same order of checks you use for anyone else, set out in the tenant screening guide. Applying them evenly is what keeps a refusal defensible, and in New York a refusal has to be reasonable.

If you pull a screening report, the federal consumer-report rules apply as they would to any applicant, including the notice if you decline because of it; what is a tenant screening report walks through them.

When a sublease is the wrong answer

• The tenant is leaving for good. A clean exit is usually better for both sides: a lease termination letter with a fixed last day and the deposit handled under the normal rules.
• The newcomer wants to stay past the lease. A sublease cannot give them that. Screen them as an applicant and sign a new lease of your own for the period after the current one ends.
• A roommate is moving in to stay. Add them to the lease as a co-tenant so they owe you rent directly.
• Nights, not months. Renting the unit out to short-stay guests is usually subletting too, and many cities regulate short-term rentals separately. Your lease should say whether they are allowed at all.

Whichever route you take, the end of the tenancy still runs on the deposit clock in your state; see security deposit return deadlines.