Subletting in Atlanta: A Guide for Students and Interns

Who Sublets in Atlanta, and When

Georgia Tech is in Midtown, Georgia State University is Downtown, and Emory University is in Druid Hills, east of the city center. The Atlanta University Center, west of Downtown, includes Morehouse College, Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University.

Students leave in May and look for someone to cover the summer. Georgia Tech also runs a co-op program, in which students alternate semesters of full-time work with semesters of classes, so some need a subtenant for a fall or spring semester as well. Ask the co-op office for your own work dates.

Summer interns arrive for corporate offices in Midtown, Downtown and Buckhead and around the Perimeter.

Where Students and Interns Live

• Near Georgia Tech: Midtown and Home Park, between the campus, Atlantic Station and Piedmont Park. MARTA’s Red and Gold Lines stop at North Avenue, Midtown and Arts Center.
• Near Georgia State: Downtown, around Woodruff Park and the Georgia State and Five Points stations, where the Red, Gold, Blue and Green Lines meet.
• Near Emory: Druid Hills, the Clairmont Road corridor and Decatur. There is no MARTA rail station at Emory, so people use MARTA buses, Emory’s shuttles or a car. Decatur has a Blue Line station.
• Near the Atlanta University Center: the West End and Vine City, with the West End station on the Red and Gold Lines and Vine City and Ashby on the Green and Blue Lines.
• Along the BeltLine Eastside Trail: Old Fourth Ward, Inman Park and Virginia-Highland, with Inman Park/Reynoldstown on the Blue and Green Lines.
• Near the offices: Midtown, Downtown and Buckhead (Buckhead and Lenox stations on the Red and Gold Lines).

Getting Around Without a Car

Atlanta is spread out, so where you live decides whether you need a car. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) runs four rail lines: Red and Gold run north and south through Downtown, Midtown and Buckhead and reach the airport, and Blue and Green run east and west. If your campus or office is near a station, a sublet near any station on that line works. Otherwise plan on buses, a bike on the BeltLine or a car.

The Rules to Check Before You Sublet in Atlanta

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs publishes the Georgia Landlord-Tenant Handbook. Its section on subletting says the lease determines whether a tenant can sublet, and that subletting often requires the landlord’s permission. It also explains that a subtenant holds the right to use the place from the original tenant, not directly from the landlord. In practice that means you stay responsible to your landlord while you are away.

So read the clause, ask in writing and keep the answer. If the lease says no subletting, ask whether the landlord will make an exception in writing.

The City of Atlanta regulates short-term rentals separately and requires a license for them. We could not open the city’s page to confirm the details, so if anyone proposes a stay shorter than about a month, check the city’s short-term rental page first.

How to Sublet Your Place in Atlanta

1. Read your lease for a sublet clause. Georgia’s handbook says the lease decides, so the exact wording matters.
2. Ask your landlord in writing, and get the approval in writing before you list. An email that names the subtenant and the dates is far better than a phone call.
3. Talk to your roommates. If they are on the lease, the lease may need their written agreement too.
4. Set exact move-in and move-out dates that sit inside your own lease term.
5. Price it near your own rent. As an example of the math, not a local price: if you pay $1,000 a month and leave for 3 months, an empty room costs you $3,000.
6. Put it in writing: names, dates, rent, what is included, how the deposit is handled and the house rules. Both of you sign and keep a copy.

Choose a subtenant on the stay only: dates, ability to pay, references, pets, smoking. Fair housing laws make it illegal to choose or refuse someone because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or family status, and many states and cities add gender identity, sexual orientation, age, lawful source of income and more.

• How to Handle Your Sublet, Start to Finish
• Going Abroad: The Apartment Checklist

How to Find a Sublet in Atlanta Without Getting Scammed

Sublet Buddy lists sublets of 30 days or longer. Its listings are live in New York City today, and Atlanta is on the way.

• See the place in person, or on a live video call where the person walks from the street door to the room.
• Ask to see the page of the lease with their name on it, and the landlord’s written approval of the sublet.
• Never pay a deposit or rent before you have a signed agreement. Be wary of anyone who wants a wire transfer, gift cards or crypto.
• Be wary of pressure. “Three other people want it today” is a reason to slow down, not to pay.

• Sublet Scam Warning Signs (Written for New York, but the Warning Signs Are the Same)
• All Cities on Sublet Buddy