Subletting Question

[flamingjuly.livejournal.com]

Hey, so this isn't Davis Square specific, per se, aside from the fact that I live here. But I know a few of you are landlords in the area, and might know of some Somerville-specific laws, so I figured I'd ask:

What are a landlord's biggest concerns about subletting?

Every lease I've signed has had a point about no subletting. I get why landlords would not be a fan of having someone not on the lease living somewhere, but I feel like some people are able to make subletting work even if it's not allowed in their lease. My roommate wants to sublet her room, and I'm going to ask the landlord about it because it's worth a shot. I'd really like to address all his possible fears upfront. The person subletting would be taking over the lease once it's up for renewal, so I'm hoping that helps my case.

Thanks for any help!

Comments

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

As a landlord, I've done this several times, but I amend the lease to substitute one for the other and put the new person through the same background check. I make the tenants deal with any prepaids among themselves (last month's rent, deposit). It's easier if the change happens at the end of the lease, but it can be managed.

The real problem with subletting is when you sublet the property without the landlord involved and then split. That's why subletting is prohibited in most leases.

I don't even consider that subletting -- you want to substitute a new lessee. Ask the landlord.

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

Another reason is that even doing it the way described here makes extra work for the landlords at a time period that they can't predict in advance. We don't prohibit it, and we also do soething similar (issue an amended lease/rental agreement with a new person named on it, put the new person through the same references check as the original tenants, etc.), and I recall it being a pain in the rear when tenants went through several revolving-door roomates in the space of a year or so.