Subletting Gone Wrong: Why You Shouldn't Sublet Behind Your Landlord's Back

By Francine Fluetsch on April 30, 2016

As the spring quarter/semester is boiling down to the final weeks (can I get a hallelujah?) it might be time to start thinking about subletting your place for the summer.

Many students take this option if they aren’t going to be living in the place during the summer to get most, if not all, of their rent covered while they aren’t there. Or some of you might need to sublet because you scored an opportunity to go abroad, you lucky ducks you. Whatever your reason for looking into subletting, you definitely want to make sure to clear it with your landlord first.

I know, I know, a bunch of hassle, right? And you’re so busy … would they really notice if you subletted without letting them know? What they don’t know won’t kill them, right?

image via renatomsiqueira.com.br

Well, the thing is, if you sublet behind your landlord’s back, it’s going to mean serious trouble for you if/when they find out. And trust me, chances are they are going to find out.

Landlords, though they do have to give 24-hour notice before coming into your place, could drop by randomly to grab something from the garage or to trim the rose bushes in your yard. Or maybe they were fixing up a place next door, saw that your porch light was broken, and decided that, since they were so close, they were going to fix it then and there, and what happens to you? You’re busted, that’s what.

Many landlords are cool with subletting as long as you follow their rules about it, and some aren’t cool with it, so whichever way they swing, I’d highly recommend not going against them on this one. What could happen to you? Let’s find out.

You can get evicted on the spot.

Yes, your landlord can do this, especially if it clearly states in your contract that you aren’t allowed to sublet/have more than a certain number of people living in the house at a time. If you breech this contract, your landlord can pretty much do whatever they want, and you have no say. Getting lawyers involved to assert your rights isn’t even worth the trouble because unfortunately, the tenant is usually on the losing end.

This is exactly why you want to do everything in your power to stay true to your contract, however much that may inconvenience you. This is something to know up front, and if you are currently looking for a place and know that you will want to sublet at some point, you want to check with the landlord before you sign to make sure that that is something they are going to be okay with you doing.

Legal action can and will be taken against you.

If your contract doesn’t technically state that you can’t sublease, but you go behind your landlord’s back in your subletting endeavors, you might not be getting off scot-free. While the landlord will have a harder time kicking you out since it wasn’t in the contract, if they decide to take legal action against you, they still have a much better chance of winning the case than you do.

The first step they would take would be to kick the subletter out, or give you a certain amount of time, maybe 30 days or so, to fix the situation before they take action. If you don’t go with this, they will get a lawyer involved, who will work to get both you and the subletter expelled from the property. This will take a lot of time and money, more money than the subletter will be worth, that’s for sure.

tellyouall.com

It will stain your reputation.

Even if you hate your landlord and smile at the thought of pissing them off, you have to keep the long run in mind. When you apply to live in a new place, they will require that you put down the last place you lived and will ask for a phone number where they can contact said person.

If the last contact you had with your old landlord was them kicking you out since they couldn’t trust you/you breeched the contract, chances are they aren’t going to have very good things to say about you to the new landlord where you are trying to lease. This would be very problematic, and you wouldn’t want something like this following you around.

It’s a time consuming headache.

You were avoiding confronting your landlord about subletting because you wanted a fast and easy route, right? And while some of you might get away with your landlord not finding out, it will be so much time wasted and effort exasperated if they do find out, and that’s not worth it.

The gist of this? Make sure that it’s cool for you to sublet. It will take a bit more time than if you just went ahead and did it, but trust me on this one, you’ll be glad you went through the extra effort of clearing it with your landlord first.

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