Subletting in San Francisco: A Guide for Students and Interns

Who Sublets in San Francisco, and When

In the city, the University of San Francisco sits next to Golden Gate Park’s Panhandle and San Francisco State University is by Lake Merced. Across the bay is UC Berkeley, and Stanford University is about 35 miles south in Palo Alto. Students search all three areas together because summer internships are spread across them.

USF, SF State and Berkeley are semester schools, so rooms open from mid-May to mid-August. Stanford’s quarter calendar ends spring term in June and starts autumn in late September, so sublets near Stanford start and end about a month later. Fall and spring semesters abroad, and single quarters away at Stanford, fill the other months.

Where Students and Interns Live

• Near USF: the Inner Richmond, the Haight and the blocks around the Panhandle, on the Muni 5 Fulton and 38 Geary bus lines.
• Near SF State: Parkmerced, Ingleside and the Sunset, on the Muni M Ocean View line.
• Near the downtown offices: SoMa, the Financial District, Mission Bay and the Mission, close to BART’s Market Street and Mission Street stations and Muni Metro.
• Berkeley: Southside between campus and Dwight Way, Northside, and downtown by the Downtown Berkeley BART station.
• Near Stanford: Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Mountain View, along the Caltrain line.

Getting Around

San Francisco’s Muni runs buses, Muni Metro light rail and cable cars. BART links the city with Berkeley and Oakland in about 25 minutes from downtown. Caltrain runs from Fourth and King down the Peninsula to Palo Alto and San Jose, and Stanford’s Marguerite shuttle meets it at Palo Alto station.

Inside San Francisco and Berkeley you can live without a car. An internship at a South Bay office park is different: pick a place near Caltrain or the employer’s shuttle stop, or plan to drive.

The Rules to Check Before You Sublet in San Francisco

Start with the lease. The San Francisco Rent Board explains that when a lease limits subletting, adding someone without the landlord’s consent can bring a notice of lease violation. Ask in writing and keep the answer.

San Francisco also limits the price. For units covered by the Rent Ordinance, the Rent Board says a master tenant, meaning the tenant who sublets, cannot charge a subtenant more than a proportional share of the total rent paid to the owner, and no more than the full rent when subletting the whole unit. A subtenant who is overcharged can file a petition with the Rent Board.

Stays under 30 days are short-term rentals. Hosts must be permanent residents of the unit and register with the city’s Office of Short-Term Rentals. Berkeley has its own Rent Stabilization Board, and Palo Alto follows California law, where the lease and the landlord’s consent decide. Check the local office before you list outside the city.

How to Sublet Your Place in San Francisco

1. Read your lease for a subletting clause, and check with the Rent Board whether your unit is covered by the Rent Ordinance.
2. Ask your landlord or property manager in writing. Give your dates and say you will send the subtenant’s name. Keep the written approval.
3. Tell your roommates before you list. If they are on the lease, they usually need to agree too.
4. Set exact move-in and move-out dates that sit inside your own lease term.
5. Price it near your own rent. Add up what you pay each month for rent and utilities and start from that number.
6. Put the deal in writing: names, dates, rent, utilities, house rules, and what happens if plans change. Both of you sign and keep a copy.

Pick a subtenant on the stay only: dates, ability to pay, references, pets, smoking. It is illegal to choose or refuse someone because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or family status, and state and local laws protect more traits.

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

How to Find a Sublet in San Francisco Without Getting Scammed

Pick the transit line you need first: BART for Berkeley and downtown, Caltrain for the Peninsula. Start looking six to eight weeks before you arrive, and earlier for a summer stay.

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

• See the place in person, or on a live video call where the person walks through it and shows the street outside.
• Ask whether the landlord has approved the sublet in writing, and ask to see that approval.
• Never pay a deposit or rent before you both sign a written agreement.
• Be wary of pressure: a price far below nearby places, a lister who cannot show the place, or a request to pay today by gift card, wire or crypto.

• How to Avoid Sublet Scams (Written for New York, but the Warning Signs Are the Same)
• Sublets in San Francisco