4 Questions to Ask Potential Subletters

By Danielle Wirsansky on March 25, 2018

One of the messiest aspects of college can often be finding someone to sublease your apartment. College life would be so much easier if apartment complexes would just allow students to do a lease by the month plan, or allow leases that ran for less than twelve months. But that kind of leasing plan is hard to find in a college town because apartment complexes know that, especially come summertime, students go home—and they want to keep getting paid rent even in the emptier months of the year. It does not matter if the student is actually living there or not—they still have to pay the rent for the full term of the lease.

Most students go home during summer vacation, and so there are always more people looking for subletters than there are actual subletters. Often, because of this issue, students can get really excited when they find someone to sublet their apartment and so once they have got a fish on the hook, they do not probe their subletter too deeply. They have got someone to sublease the apartment—they do not have to pay for their apartment during the months they will not be living in it! Why look a gift horse in the mouth?

Unfortunately, students should question their potential subletters and make sure that everyone sees eye to eye on several important issues. Especially if the student plans to return to their apartment after their subletter lives there – for the summer, for example – it is very important that the student and the subletter agree on several important issues. A bad match between student and subletter can be a waste of time and money, and a huge source of stress as well.

Avoid the drama by making sure the subletter is the right fit before you sign any paperwork or before the subletter moves into your house. But how do you establish what a good fit your subletter may be? Read on to learn some questions to ask your potential subletter to make sure your housing agreement goes according to plan!

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The Span of Time?

One thing you need to be really clear about from the get-go is how long the potential subletter wants or needs to be in your apartment. Do they only need it for the summer, or do they want to remain later than that? What constitutes the summer for them? Maybe they want to move in May 1… but you will not be ready to move out until May 4. Maybe you need someone to stay through August, but they are only interested in staying in your apartment through July. Simply stating that you need a “summer” sublease is too broad, and you could find someone who really does not fit your needs for the span of time you need your lease covered.

You do not want to already be gone from your apartment, living far away in a different city or state, only to have your subletter bail on you earlier than expected. Then you get short-changed on paying the rent—you are now down a month’s worth of rent money that you had not been expecting to pay, which puts you into a financial tailspin.

Or imagine this—you come back from your summer vacation, well-rested and relaxed, only to find that your summer subletter is still in your apartment… and has no intention of going anywhere anytime soon. You have a new semester starting soon. How can you be expected to share your living space once the chaos of school begins again? You do not want to deal with a squatter situation on top of your hectic school life.

Avoid this drama by making sure you are both very clearly on the same page about what you are looking for and what span of time will work for the two of you to best advantage. Do not be afraid to ask and set clear boundaries that you are comfortable with.

Infographic by Danielle Wirsansky

How Will Payments Work?

This is one of the most important elements of a sublease that a student must establish right away—how are payments for this apartment going to work? Each complex and company is different—some, when you sublet your apartment, just interact solely with the new occupant of their property. You, the original tenant, are out of the picture. There is no communication between you and the property manager because the subletter has officially taken over your lease and cut you out of it.

Other apartment complexes make you responsible for the subletter. You are the one still responsible for making sure the bill is paid even if you are not living there. The subletter has to pay you the rent, and then you have to pay the rent to the landlord.

Hopefully, your complex will be more accommodating and allow the former option, especially if you are not moving back into your apartment after you have someone sublet it. However, if they follow the latter format, it can be quite tricky and you need to make sure that you do not get scammed or taken advantage of.

When the apartment complex is responsible for collecting the rent, they have a certain amount of leverage to hold over their tenant to make sure that the rent is indeed paid. They have options and plans of action, including evicting a tenant that does not pay their rent.

But when it is you, a simple student, that becomes responsible for exacting rent out of a subletter, what leverage do you really have to enforce them to pay the rent—the full amount and on time, if at all? Especially if you are not present in the city, state, or country anymore, how can you make sure that your subletter will stay honest and above board and actually pay their rent? What will stop them from refusing after you are already gone and they are moved in? If you are the one responsible for the rent to be paid, then it is you that will be affected. It is your credit score that will be damaged when the subletter is evicted. It will show up in your background checks and stop you from getting accepted to live in different complexes, or even take out loans and other financial transactions.

We like to think that people will be honest and trustworthy, that they will do the right thing. But it is very, very easy to be taken advantage of in this time and age. You need to make sure that you do not get scammed. Should you be the one responsible to pay the rent even if you have a subletter, you need to set up an arrangement so that you know that the rent will most definitely get paid. You can ask your subletter to pay the entire amount of rent for the duration of their stay in advance, though if it is a fellow student this may be asking a lot of them.

Whatever you choose to do, you need to make sure that rent is getting paid, because you will be the one most negatively affected by this. Eliminate the possibility of tragedy—establish in the beginning, before you even let them stay in your home, how payments will work.

What Happens After?

Okay, so you move away for the summer and your subletter moves in… is that the end of the story, or is there more? Will you be coming back to reclaim your apartment at the summer’s end? Is the subletter planning on resigning a lease directly with the complex so that they can continue to live there once their sublease with you is over? You want to make sure you are on the same page about this so that you do not end up battling a subletter, trying to kick them out of your apartment when you want to come back, as they expected to stay.

Why would someone sublet an apartment if they wanted to live indefinitely at a complex? There are many reasons why someone would do this. One big reason could be that the apartment complex you are living in is highly competitive—the subletter may have wanted to live there and been too late—all the leases had been signed and the complex ran out of properties for them to live in. Perhaps the subletter is interested in living in this complex but wants to test drive the community and accommodations out before signing a long-term lease. They want to make sure they like the community for a few months before they sign and get stuck living there for a year or more and end up not really liking or enjoying living there.

It is an important question to ask a subletter before you let them move into your apartment if you plan to move back to it. Not only do you not want to have a bad situation when you return, you want to be fair and make sure that your subletter knows your plan so that they can plan accordingly and are not left homeless or in a bad position because you were not considerate enough to hash this out with them ahead of time. Be respectful and be mature—ask the question!

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Furnished or Unfurnished?

The last topic you need to broach with a potential subletter is if they want or expect your apartment to come furnished or not. If your apartment already comes furnished, this is not a huge deal for you—it is not your furniture. But you do want to make sure that your potential subletter understand that the apartment comes with the furnishings—it is a part of the deal and there is absolutely nothing that you can do about that. The complex manages that, not you.

However, what about if it is your furniture in your apartment? Are you willing to part ways with that furniture? If you do not need the piece after you move, you could offer to sell all the furniture for a lump sum of cash when the subletter moves in. If you do need those pieces with you wherever you plan to move to, is the subletter okay and comfortable with providing their own furniture in the apartment? They do not want to move into an apartment full of furniture, just as they would not want to move into an apartment empty of all furniture, if it was not what they were expecting.

What if you are planning to return to your apartment after the sublease is over? It is much more convenient for you to leave your furniture in the apartment and return to it. And you certainly do not want to pay a storage unit fee to store the furniture in when it could be sitting in your apartment for free. Or maybe the subletter is facing the same dilemma—they want to keep their own furniture with them during this temporary stay.

Be sure you are both on the same wavelength about the issue because it can be pretty jarring to open the door to your new apartment only to find it full or empty of furniture that you did or did not expect to be there. Communicate clearly and precisely from the get-go so that if this subletter is not the right fit, you can quickly and easily find someone who is right for you and your apartment.

In conclusion, there are many questions you need to ask a potential subletter to make sure that you will both be happy with the decision and resulting experience. Simply by clearing up any discrepancies or miscommunications ahead of time, you and your subletter can have a much more harmonious experience. You will better be able to weed out people that might abuse your trust (or your apartment). You will have a much less stressful experience. And you can save yourself a lot of money that could be better saved and spent on other, more important to you things.

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