I’ve been on a quest for a cheaper apartment before my lease expires. So far, not much luck on signing a new lease, but a great opportunity came my way for a long-term sublet.

I decided to go the honest route and do everything by the book and it has been more work and more stressful than I expected.

According to the Division of Housing and Community Renewal ^[1] and the Tenant’s Rights Guide from the Office of New York State Attorney General ^[2], you are allowed to sublet a rent controlled and rent stabilized apartment for no more than 2 years in a 4 year period – as long as you stick to the rules.

A few things you may want to know before taking this route:
1. The current tenant has to submit a request for the sublease. That request includes info about the terms of the sublease, and the subtenant.
2. The landlord has 10 days to ask the tenant for additional information to help make a decision.
3. The landlord then has 30 days to send the tenant a notice of consent, or denial.

Seems easy enough… right? Wrong.

For this apartment after the tenant submitted the request for consent on the sublet, the landlord came back with the following requests:
1. Complete a Notice of Intent to Sublet
2. Submit a Statement of Net Worth for the Tenant and Subtenant (yes, for the current tenant – who’s been paying the rent for 20 years)
3. Submit an Income Statement for the Tenant and Subtenant
4. Submit 2 letters of reference for the Subtenant
5. Submit a proposed Sublet Agreement
6. Send a check for the landlord to run a credit check

And, if that weren’t enough, once they review all of my paperwork and run a credit check, they have to interview me!

I didn’t have to give HALF of this information when I moved into the apartment I’m currently in – and it costs me twice as much as the sublet will (if I get it). For the place I have now, I submitted an application, gave them $60 to run a credit check and they called me the next morning to tell me the apartment was mine.

My advice – plan more than a month in advance and make sure that your credit in order. If you can’t do that… I think you’re better off signing your own lease.