As a tenant in a rental unit, your landlord might allow you to sublet, or sublease, all or some of your apartment. If you decide to sublet, you effectively become a landlord, or master tenant, to the person (subtenant) you sublet to. Your landlord’s preferences, your rental, and local and state law dictate the terms of your sublet agreement.
Reasons
There are two primary reasons why you might want to sublet your apartment, according to the California Department of Consumer Affairs. If you are going away for a period of time but do not need to lose your rental, you’ll find somebody to sublet your unit while you are gone. You might have a rental that is too large for you. If you discover somebody to sublet an area and share common spaces, you secure help in paying your rent. The latter instance is just a conventional roommate situation.
Permission
Your rental agreement might have. The Department of Consumer Affairs advises running your thought by your landlord prior to moving forward if your leasing pact does not explicitly outlaw subletting. The agency claims that consulting with your landlord helps ensure that sublet arrangements proceed trouble-free.
Responsibility
If your landlord agrees to a sublet, you must go outside and find a roommate or temporary replacement tenant. Subtenants have”no direct responsibility” for your landlord; rather, they need to reply for you, the Department of Consumer Affairs explains. You assume the role of master tenant — or landlord for your subtenant — gathering leasing and telling your subtenant of your landlord’s rules and regulations. Subtenants, if occupying your unit when you are away or as a roommate, must abide by your landlord’s policies. As an example, if you can’t own a puppy, neither can your subtenant.
Agreement Contents
The Department of Consumer Affairs recommends drafting a written agreement to be signed by you and your subtenant. It should contain details about where and how to cover the rent, who’s responsible for utilities, the whole period of your sublet agreement and any other agreements you have come to with your subtenant. These might contain expectations about how your subtenant should deal with your own personal property and other upkeep and maintenance problems. Ultimately, the agreement you enter into with a subtenant must be consistent with all the contents of this agreement you’ve got with your landlord.
Rent
If you sublet your house in San Francisco, the town’s Rent Board points out that you can’t charge more for rent than what you are spending to your landlord. For sublet agreements struck following May 24, 1998, you must present your subtenant, in writing, just how much rent you pay for your unit. As of Aug. 21, 2001, the Rent Board notes that in the event that you share your space with a roommate, then you cannot charge him over a”proportional share of their total lease” you pay to your landlord. You are able to ascertain a roommate’s share of the lease on the grounds of the number of people occupying the unit, square footage shared or a different method that ensures the subtenant is paying a fair share of the lease.