Subletting in Pittsburgh: A Guide for Students and Interns

Who Sublets in Pittsburgh, and When

The University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University are in Oakland, about three miles east of Downtown. Duquesne University is on the Bluff, next to Downtown. Chatham University and Carlow University are nearby in the East End.

Students leave after spring finals and need someone until the lease ends, often in late July or August. Check the end date on your own lease, since it sets the last day you can offer.

Summer interns and researchers come for the hospitals and labs in Oakland, the technology offices around Bakery Square and the Strip District, and the banks and firms Downtown.

Where Students and Interns Live

• Oakland: North, Central and South Oakland surround the Pitt campus, the Cathedral of Learning and Schenley Plaza, along Forbes and Fifth Avenues.
• Shadyside and Squirrel Hill: east of Carnegie Mellon, around Walnut Street, Murray Avenue and Schenley Park.
• Bloomfield, Friendship and East Liberty: north of Oakland along Liberty and Penn Avenues, near Bakery Square.
• South Side Flats: across the Monongahela River along East Carson Street, linked to Oakland by the Birmingham Bridge.
• Uptown and Downtown: near Duquesne, along Forbes and Fifth Avenues toward the Golden Triangle.
• Near the offices: Downtown, the Strip District along the Allegheny River, and Oakland itself.

Getting Around Without a Car

Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) runs the buses, the light rail and the inclines. The 61 and 71 bus routes run along Forbes and Fifth Avenues and tie Downtown, Uptown, Oakland, Squirrel Hill and Shadyside together, so a sublet near either avenue is practical.

The light rail, called the T, runs from the North Shore through Downtown to the South Hills. It does not reach Oakland. The city is hilly and split by rivers, so check the actual route on a map: a place that looks close can sit at the top of a steep climb.

The Rules to Check Before You Sublet in Pittsburgh

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s consumer guide to tenant and landlord rights lists “whether you can sublease the rental unit” among the things your lease should tell you. That makes the lease the first document to read, and your landlord’s written consent the thing to get. We did not find a state rule that lets you sublet against the lease.

For stays shorter than a month, we could not confirm what the city currently requires. Pittsburgh has been working on rental permit and short-term rental rules, and reports differ on what is in force. Ask the city’s Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections before agreeing to a short stay, and keep a sublet at 30 days or longer.

Pitt and Carnegie Mellon both have off-campus housing offices that can tell you about local leases and their own housing policies.

How to Sublet Your Place in Pittsburgh

1. Read your lease for the sublease clause and the end date. Many student leases here end in summer, which sets the last day of your sublet.
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 Pittsburgh Without Getting Scammed

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