5 Things You Need To Know Before Subletting Your Apartment

By Victoria Robertson on November 23, 2015

Most leases are for the full year, not just the school year. So if you plan on moving back home for the summer, it only makes sense to sublet your apartment for those couple months.

However, there are many variables when it comes to subletting, and many people aren’t aware just how involved it can be, and how sometimes it can actually cost you more money than you bargained for.

So to help avoid unwanted surprises, here are the five things you need to know before subletting your apartment.

Photo Via: http://blog.storage.com

1. Start looking months in advance.

I’d recommend you begin looking for potential tenants immediately following winter break. Don’t make the mistake of waiting too long, as you either won’t find anyone, or you’ll be too rushed or have too much pressure on you and end up taking the first prospective tenant you hear from.

Just know that finding a tenant is a very long process, so the earlier you start looking, the better.

2. Talk with your roommates.

Make sure that you know exactly how many rooms you will be subletting, and make sure any roommates that are staying behind are involved in the searching process.

Many people will be looking for a place in groups, so always be up front about how many rooms you’re subletting, and also if there will be any roommates staying behind. For both the new tenant and the old tenant, it’s important they meet beforehand to make sure their personalities mesh and that they will be able to coexist for the next few months.

Which brings up another point: make sure you meet the new tenant in person! While it can start out as an internet chat or an email, make sure you meet in person so you get a feel for who they are and whether or not you can trust them. This may sound dumb, but it’s extremely important.

3. Work through the leasing office.

Many students will work through Facebook or lease the apartment to friends, without the help of the leasing office, but this can be a very big mistake.

When you sublet an apartment through the leasing office, you are ensuring that you can’t be held responsible for certain problems that may arise with the new tenants, especially if you aren’t familiar with them.

By going through the leasing office, while you may still be liable for some damages and other miscellaneous problems that the leasing office will disclose to you, you at least have a third party present to witness the signing over of utilities, keys and the apartment. This way new tenants can’t come in and trash the place, leaving it completely up to you since everything is still in your name.

4. Have a plan of action.

A lot of the time, planning for new tenants falls on you, not on the leasing office. If you leased from a company that explicitly states you are responsible for finding tenants, this typically means much more than that.

While you can always go to the leasing office to sign over the apartment once you’ve found your tenants, you will still need to figure out amongst yourselves how you’re going to switch over utilities to their name, how you’re going to manage the monthly payments and other miscellaneous items.

The more you know in advance, the better, so plan ahead. Don’t wait until the last minute to set everything up, and certainly don’t leave it up to the next tenant. This is one of the best ways to ensure everything is taken care of so that you don’t have to worry about late payments and other fees over the summer.

5. Know the repercussions.

Finally, but most importantly, know the repercussions before you lease the apartment.

What a lot of students don’t know is that even though you signed over the apartment to new people, you are still the one that has to make the monthly lease payments, return the keys and you are still responsible for all damages made to the apartment.

This means that you need to make sure the new tenants bring their monthly payments for the ENTIRE summer to that lease signing, as that’s the only way you’re going to ensure they give you the money they owe. Because if they never pay, that falls on you.

Also, this means that if they don’t return the keys at the end of the summer, or if they damage the apartment, even if it’s just a broken table or holes in the wall, you’re going to be responsible for it, and it’s going to come out of your security deposit.

This is why trusting the new tenant is so important. If you don’t feel comfortable leasing to someone, don’t! Be absolutely sure before you go into that leasing office, or it’s going to cost you.

Subletting an apartment can be a huge money saver, or it can be just the opposite. It all depends on how prepared you were and how seriously you took the subletting process.

So make sure you know all of the above information before you sublet, and check with your leasing office for more specific rules as well. The more you know, the better.

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