Subletting in New York: rules, consent and risks

If you rent in a New York building with four or more apartments, you have a legal right to sublet, but you must ask your landlord in writing first, and the landlord can refuse only for a reasonable reason. If the landlord doesn’t answer within 30 days of a proper request, the law treats that silence as consent.

Sublet vs assignment: they are different

The release option for assignments is your only remedy if the landlord unreasonably refuses. It is a useful exit if you need to leave for good; see how to break a lease in New York for the other routes.

How to request a sublet, step by step

1. 1

   Gather the details

   You need: the sublease term; the subtenant’s name; the subtenant’s business and permanent home address; your reason for subletting; your address during the sublet; written consent from any co-tenant or guarantor; and a copy of the proposed sublease, with your lease attached if available, signed and acknowledged by you and the subtenant as a true copy.
2. 2

   Mail it by certified mail, return receipt requested

   The statute requires this method. Email alone doesn’t start the clock. Keep the mailing receipt and green card. HCR advises rent-stabilized tenants to send it at least 30 days before the sublet starts.
3. 3

   Answer any follow-up questions

   Within 10 days after you mail the request, the landlord may ask for more information that is reasonably needed to decide. The request can’t be unduly burdensome.
4. 4

   Wait for the reply

   The landlord must reply within 30 days after you mailed the request or the extra information, whichever is later. A denial must give reasons.
5. 5

   Proceed only on consent or silence

   If the landlord consents, or doesn’t reply in time, you may sublet. Keep all paperwork; you remain liable under your lease.

1. Day 0

   You mail the request

   Certified mail, return receipt requested, with all seven items.

2. By day 10

   Landlord may ask for more information

3. By day 30

   Landlord must reply

   Counted from your request or from the extra information, whichever is later.

4. Day 31+

   No reply = consent

   You may sublet as requested.

When can a landlord say no?

The statute doesn’t list reasons. It says consent can’t be unreasonably withheld. Landlords typically point to an incomplete request or concerns about the proposed subtenant; whether a particular reason holds up depends on the facts. A blanket “no sublets” policy, or a lease clause banning sublets, doesn’t override the statute: § 226-b says any lease term waiving these rights is void.

• Reasonable refusal: you may not sublet, and you are not released from your lease.
• Unreasonable refusal: you may sublet as requested. If the landlord acted in bad faith, a court can award you your litigation costs and attorney’s fees. Disputes over consent are decided by the courts, not DHCR.

Extra rules for rent-stabilized apartments

Section 226-b says stabilized sublets are also subject to the rent stabilization laws. HCR Fact Sheet #7 explains what that means:

• Two years out of four. You can’t sublet for more than two years in the four-year period ending when the sublet ends. HCR’s example: a two-year sublet from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021 would break the rule if you had sublet at any time between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2019.
• You must be coming back. A sublet assumes a temporary absence. The sublease may run past your lease term, and you keep your right to a renewal lease.
• Rent limits. You can charge the subtenant the legal regulated rent. The owner may charge you the sublet allowance set in the Rent Guidelines Board order in effect when your renewal lease started, and you may pass it on. If you sublet fully furnished, you may add up to 10% of the legal rent for the furniture.
• No key money, no overcharges. A subtenant who is overcharged can file DHCR Form RA-89. If DHCR finds an overcharge, you must refund three times the overcharge.
• Illusory tenancies. If the “prime tenant” doesn’t really live there and the sublet is a way around rent stabilization, DHCR can recognize the subtenant as the real tenant with a renewal lease at the legal rent.

Not sure if your apartment is stabilized? Check with the rent-stabilized checker and request your rent history. Rent-controlled apartments follow different sublet rules: HCR says the § 226-b request procedure doesn’t apply, there is no fixed time limit, but you need the owner’s written consent to the length of the sublet and must keep the apartment as your primary residence.

Who isn’t covered

• Buildings with three or fewer apartments: you have no statutory right to sublet, so your lease controls.
• Public housing and other units with statutory admission criteria.
• Co-op shareholders under a proprietary lease. Co-op sublets follow the co-op’s own rules; see co-op sublet rules.

Sublet, roommate or short-term rental?

If you are staying in the apartment and just want someone to share it, that is not a sublet. New York’s roommate law (RPL § 235-f) lets you live with immediate family plus one additional occupant without landlord consent; see New York roommate law. Renting your place to short-term visitors is a different issue governed by the city’s short-term rental rules; see NYC short-term rental law.

Protect yourself as the prime tenant

• Screen your subtenant as carefully as a landlord would. You are on the hook for rent and damage.
• Put the rent, dates, deposit and house rules in a written sublease.
• Collect rent in a traceable way, and keep records.
• Photograph the apartment before the subtenant moves in.
• Keep the certified-mail receipts and the landlord’s reply (or proof of no reply) with your lease.