Subletting is legal in Jersey City unless your lease explicitly prohibits it. Your lease may also require you to ask permission from your landlord to sublet. New Jersey law does not have any regulations about subletting, beyond some guidelines for rejecting requests.

In a sublet (or sublease), you (the tenant) rent out your apartment temporarily to another person (the subtenant), who pays you the rent to give to your landlord. Subletting is a good way to save money on rent if you need to vacate your apartment for a few months but plan to return.

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Is subletting legal in Jersey City?

Subletting in the state of New Jersey is legal unless the lease contains a clause that explicitly prohibits it.

If your lease states that you cannot sublet, there is no way to get around this. If you need to leave your apartment for an extended period, you’ll have to assign your lease or end it early.

Fortunately, in New Jersey, if you want to get out of your lease early, your landlord must make an effort to find a replacement tenant (but you’ll need to help).

Aside from basic guidelines for landlords refusing subletting requests, New Jersey does not provide any statutes that regulate sublet agreements beyond what is contained in your private lease.

Can my landlord reject my request?

A landlord can only reject your sublet request if it can be proven that the sublet would “put their business at risk.”

This means that a request can only be rejected on reasonable grounds. Legal grounds for refusal include:

The proposed subtenant is unable to pay the agreed-upon rent

The subtenant would use the property in an unauthorized way

Other tenants object to the sublet

The sublet is otherwise illegal

Under the New Jersey Fair Housing Act, a landlord cannot discriminate based on race, creed, religion, national origin, gender, sex, ancestry, disability, marital status, or familial status. Any objections to a subtenant on the grounds of demographics are illegal.

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Learn more about New Jersey car insurance laws

How to sublet in Jersey City

Read your lease carefully and inform your landlord

Check to see if your lease has any clauses prohibiting subletting or stating that you must have landlord approval.

Even if your lease does not contain any such clauses, it’s a good idea to give your landlord ample notice of your intention to sublet before looking for a subtenant.

Find a subtenant

Unless you already have someone lined up to cover your lease, you will have to find and screen potential candidates. Ask around for friends of friends looking to rent or try posting on these sites:

Facebook marketplace

Craigslist

Sublet.com

Make sure to run background checks on all potential subtenants. Collecting references and proof of income is typically a good idea to make sure your subtenant will be able to cover their portion of the rent.

Draft a sublease and get your landlord to sign off

Once you’ve found and screened a subtenant, you’ll have to draft a sublease and get the subtenant and landlord to sign off on it.

New Jersey does not have any legal requirements for a sublease. Generally, the contract should contain the dates that you will be gone, the reason why you are leaving, and information about the terms of the sublease.

Discuss with your subtenant whether they will be paying all of the rent or a portion of it, and agree on a payment method each month. It is also recommended to get a security deposit from your subtenant to protect yourself from any damages to your apartment or your possessions.

Once you have your sublease written, you should send it to your landlord via certified mail or email, as these offer proof of delivery accepted by courts.

Once you submit your request, your landlord has 30 days to respond. If they fail to respond, it is assumed that they approve of the request.

Continue paying rent

You have taken all of the steps to sublet your apartment and are ready to go on to your next adventure. Congratulations! It is important to remember, though, that it is still your responsibility to make sure the rent gets paid.

MORE: New Jersey DUI laws

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