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To Avoid Sublet Headaches, Cover All Your Legal Bases
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Once you find a trustworthy subletter, protect yourself with a contract between you and him, Kahan said. This sublease contract should spell out the terms, including rent, utility payments and duration, and anything else that needs to be addressed. Will the subletter keep the cable and Internet? Can he use your towels and sheets? Do you want her to feed your fish?
The contract also should stipulate how the apartment should be left. Otherwise, you could return jet-lagged after a 14-hour flight from Egypt to find no clean towels, sheets or dishes. You might want to arrange for a professional cleaning service to come in immediately after the sublease on the subletter's dime.
It would be considerate, too, to have a professional cleaning before the subletter arrives.
A sublease contract also protects the subletter who otherwise is blindly relying on an oral promise.
David Fulco, 27, of New York, ran into that problem when the original renter returned one month earlier than expected with three family members in tow. There were two other subletters in the apartment plus a "random dude" who slept on the futon.
"I was told there would be me and two flamenco dancers in a three-bedroom," Fulco said. "One month. Seven people in a three-bedroom."
Set up a local contact for your subletter, such as a friend or colleague who has an extra pair of keys in case of an emergency and who can pick up rent and utility payments for you. Make sure to leave the contact information for the landlord and maintenance staff, too. Your landlord should also have your subletter's information and your contact information.
Make sure to ask for a security payment, too, just as a landlord would. Typically, it's equal to one month's rent in case the subletter skips out on a payment. Also, you can use the money to make any repairs that may be needed, Kahan said.
"The number one thing to remember is that the original resident, and not the subletter, is going to be on the hook for all obligations in the lease," Semko said.
