Subletting in Chicago: A Guide for Students and Interns

Who Sublets in Chicago, and When

The University of Chicago is in Hyde Park on the South Side. Loyola University Chicago is on the lakefront in Rogers Park, DePaul University is in Lincoln Park and the Loop, and Northwestern University’s main campus is just north of the city in Evanston, with professional schools in Streeterville.

Students leave for summer and for study abroad. Several of these schools use quarters instead of semesters, so their spring terms can end later than at a semester school. Check your own academic calendar before you promise a move-in date.

Summer interns come for banks, consulting firms, trading firms, law firms and technology offices in the Loop, River North and the West Loop.

Where Students and Interns Live

• Near the University of Chicago: Hyde Park and Kenwood, between Washington Park and the lake. Metra Electric trains run from 55th-56th-57th Street to Millennium Station, and CTA buses run to the Loop.
• Near Loyola: Rogers Park and Edgewater, by the lake, on the CTA Red Line at Loyola and Granville.
• Near DePaul: Lincoln Park, around Fullerton station on the Red, Brown and Purple Lines, and the Loop campus by Jackson and Harold Washington Library stations.
• Near Northwestern: Evanston, on the CTA Purple Line at Davis, Foster and Noyes and on Metra’s Union Pacific North line.
• Lakeview and Wicker Park: Lakeview on the Red and Brown Lines at Belmont, Wicker Park on the Blue Line at Damen.
• Near the offices: the Loop, River North, Streeterville, the South Loop and the West Loop, where almost every CTA rail line meets.

Getting Around Without a Car

You do not need a car in most of the city. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) runs the L trains, named by color, and buses. The Red and Blue Lines run all night. Metra commuter trains link Hyde Park and Evanston to downtown. The Lakefront Trail runs along Lake Michigan for biking in warm months.

The Rules to Check Before You Sublet in Chicago

Chicago’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, often called the RLTO, is summarized by the city in a document that landlords attach to leases. On subleases, the summary says the landlord must accept a reasonable subtenant offered by the tenant without charging additional fees. The ordinance section is 5-12-120.

The ordinance does not cover every unit. The city’s summary lists exceptions, including owner-occupied buildings with six or fewer units. It also applies only inside Chicago, so an apartment in Evanston follows Evanston’s rules. If you are not sure your building is covered, read the summary attached to your lease or ask the city’s Department of Housing.

Short stays are a separate category. Chicago defines a shared housing unit as a home rented for 31 or fewer consecutive days, which needs a city registration. Units rented only for 32 days or more are not shared housing.

How to Sublet Your Place in Chicago

1. Read your lease and the RLTO summary attached to it. Check that your building is covered, and that the apartment is inside Chicago.
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 Chicago Without Getting Scammed

Sublet Buddy lists sublets of 30 days or longer. Its listings are live in New York City today, and Chicago 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)
• Chicago on Sublet Buddy