Sublet Checklist: What to Do Before You Leave

The Week Before

1. Confirm the paperwork. You should have your landlord’s written approval and a signed sublease agreement. Send the subtenant a copy of both.
2. Clean properly: floors, bathroom, fridge, bed linen. Hand over the place the way you would want to find it.
3. Take or lock up valuables and anything personal: laptop, passport, jewelry, documents with your details on them, medication.
4. Clear space. Empty a few drawers, half the closet and a shelf in the fridge and bathroom.
5. Set up mail forwarding with the Postal Service, or ask a roommate to keep your mail in one place.
6. Check the utilities and Wi-Fi stay on in your name and on autopay, unless you agreed something else in writing.
7. Tell your building: the super or management office should know the subtenant’s name and dates, so nobody is surprised at the door.
8. Ask your renters insurance company whether your policy covers the apartment while a subtenant lives there.

Photos of the Condition

Walk through every room with your phone and take wide shots, then close-ups of anything already marked: a scuffed wall, a chipped counter, a stain on the mattress. Open the oven and the fridge. Photograph the furniture you are leaving.

Email the photos to yourself and to the subtenant the same day. The email gives both of you a dated record, which is what settles a disagreement about damage later.

A short video walking through the apartment is a good backup, but photos are easier to compare.

Write House Notes

One page is enough. Put it in a shared document and print a copy for the fridge.

• Wi-Fi name and password.
• How the heat, air conditioner, stove and locks work, including anything with a trick to it.
• Trash and recycling: where it goes and which days.
• Laundry: where, and how to pay.
• Building rules: quiet hours, packages, the front door, guests.
• The super’s number for repairs, and when to call you instead.
• Shared-space rules agreed with your roommates.

Name an Emergency Contact

Pick a friend or family member in the city who can get there in person, and ask them first. Give the subtenant their number, and give your contact the subtenant’s number and a spare key.

Tell the subtenant how to reach you and how fast you can reply, especially if you will be in another time zone.

The Day You Leave

1. Do a walk-through together, in person or on a video call. Look at the photos side by side with the room.
2. Hand over the keys and write down how many: apartment, building door, mailbox, laundry card.
3. Read the meters or note the last utility bill if the subtenant is paying a share.
4. Show them the house notes, the fuse box and the water shut-off if you know where it is.
5. Confirm the first rent payment and the date of the next one.
6. Take out the trash, empty the fridge of anything that will spoil, and lock any closet or cabinet you are keeping private.

Keep a Small Folder

Save everything in one folder on your phone: the lease, the landlord’s approval, the sublease, the photos, the key count and the subtenant’s contact details. If something goes wrong while you are away, you will not want to search your inbox for it.

• What to Do with Your Stuff
• Sublet Problems and What to Do