How to Ask Your Landlord to Sublet in New York

First, Count the Apartments in Your Building

New York Real Property Law section 226-b applies to buildings with four or more residential units. If yours has four or more, you may sublet with the landlord’s written consent given in advance, and that consent cannot be unreasonably withheld. A lease clause that tries to take this right away is void.

The law does not cover public housing or co-op apartments held under a proprietary lease. Rent-stabilized apartments follow it with extra rules of their own.

• Subletting a Rent-Stabilized Apartment
• Is Subletting Legal in NYC?

Start with a Friendly Email

Before the formal letter, send a short, polite email to your landlord or management office. Say you will be away, give the dates, say you plan to come back, and say a formal request with the details is on its way by certified mail.

This is a courtesy. It does not start the legal clock, because the law asks for certified mail. But a landlord who has had a friendly heads-up is easier to deal with, and may tell you what else they would like to see.

Send the Formal Request by Certified Mail

Mail the request by certified mail, return receipt requested, and keep the receipt. The Rent Guidelines Board says to send it at least 30 days before the sublet would start. Earlier is better.

Under the statute the request has to contain:

• The term of the sublease: the start and end dates.
• The name of the proposed subtenant.
• The subtenant’s business address and permanent home address.
• Your reason for subletting, such as a semester abroad or a summer internship elsewhere.
• Your own address for the time you are away.
• The written consent of any co-tenant (a roommate on the lease) or guarantor (someone who promised to pay if you cannot).
• A copy of the proposed sublease, with a copy of your lease attached if you have it, both signed by you and the subtenant as true copies.

Because the request names the subtenant, you send it after you have chosen someone. Plan your timing around that.

The 10-Day and 30-Day Clocks

1. Within 10 days of your request being mailed, the landlord may ask you for more information. The questions cannot be unduly burdensome. Answer them in writing and keep a copy.
2. Within 30 days of your request, or of the extra information if they asked for it, whichever is later, the landlord has to send a notice of consent or, if they refuse, their reasons.
3. If the landlord does not answer in that time, the law treats the silence as consent.
4. If the landlord consents, you can sublet, and you stay responsible under your lease.

If the Landlord Says No

A landlord may refuse for a good reason. If the refusal is reasonable, you cannot sublet, and you are still bound by your lease.

If the refusal is unreasonable, the statute says you may sublet as you proposed, and you may recover costs and attorney’s fees if a court finds the landlord acted in bad faith. Whether a reason is "reasonable" is a legal judgment, so get advice before you go ahead over a refusal. Subletting without following this process counts as a serious breach of your lease.

• Sublet Problems and What to Do

In a Smaller Building

In a building with three or fewer apartments, the state Attorney General’s guide says tenants do not have a right to sublet. Read your lease. If it allows subletting with permission, ask the way it says to. If it is silent or says no, ask anyway, in writing, and offer the same details you would put in a formal request.

Here a written yes is the only yes. Silence does not count as consent in a small building, so do not let anyone move in until you have the answer in writing. Keep it with your sublease.

Keep Every Paper

Save the certified mail receipt, the return receipt, a copy of everything you sent, and every reply. If there is ever a question about whether you had permission, these are your answer.

• What a Sublease Agreement Should Include
• How to Choose a Subtenant