New York subletting rules for landlords: a certified-mail request, 10 days to ask, 30 days to answer
Real Property Law 226-b lets a tenant in a building with four or more residential units sublet with the landlord's advance written consent, which cannot be unreasonably withheld. The landlord has 10 days to ask for more information and 30 days to answer, and silence counts as consent. Assignment of the whole lease works differently.
What must a New York tenant send?
The tenant sends notice of the intent to sublet by certified mail, return receipt requested. The request must include the sublease term, the proposed subtenant's name and business and permanent home addresses, the tenant's reason for subletting, the tenant's address during the sublease, the written consent of any cotenant or guarantor, and a copy of the proposed sublease, with the tenant's lease attached if available, acknowledged by both tenant and subtenant as true copies. A request that leaves out any of these items gives you a reason to ask for the rest within the 10 days.
What are the landlord's deadlines?
| Step | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Ask for additional information needed to decide whether refusal would be unreasonable | Within 10 days; the request cannot be unduly burdensome |
| Send consent, or written reasons for refusal | Within 30 days of the later of the mailing of the request or of the requested information |
| No notice sent | The sublet is deemed consented to |
Example a made-up landlord in Albany receives a certified-mail sublet request on the 3rd. On the 9th the landlord asks for the subtenant's employment details. The tenant mails them on the 14th, so the landlord has until the 14th of next month to answer. If no answer goes out, the statute treats the sublet as approved.
What happens after the answer?
- Consent: the tenant may sublet as requested but stays liable for the lease obligations.
- Reasonable refusal: no sublet occurs and the tenant is not released from the lease.
- Unreasonable refusal: the tenant may sublet as requested, and if the landlord acted in bad faith, may recover court costs and attorneys' fees.
A sublet or assignment that does not follow the section is a substantial breach of the lease or tenancy, and a lease clause purporting to waive the section is null and void. Rent-stabilized and emergency-protected units remain subject to their own laws, and the section does not apply to public housing, units with statutory admission criteria or cooperative proprietary leases.
How is assignment different?
Under subdivision 1, a tenant renting a residence may not assign the lease without the owner's written consent, and the statute says that consent may be unconditionally withheld without cause. If the owner unreasonably withholds consent, the tenant can ask to be released from the lease on 30 days' notice, and that release is the tenant's sole remedy. If the refusal is reasonable, the assignment does not happen and the tenant is not released. Sublet and assignment are therefore not the same decision: you can refuse an assignment without giving a reason, but a sublet refusal needs reasons that would hold up.
Where New York landlords slip
The costliest slip is silence. A certified-mail request left in a drawer for 30 days becomes consent. Open certified mail the day it arrives, date-stamp it and calendar day 10 and day 30. The second slip is a vague refusal: the statute asks for written reasons, and reasons such as an incomplete application, unverified income or a poor reference are easier to defend than a general dislike of subletting. The third is treating the sublet as the end of your tenant relationship; the original tenant stays liable, so keep sending notices to the tenant and keep the tenant's contact details current.
How DoorKeeping fits in New York
DoorKeeping keeps a New York tenant's sublet or assignment request in the unit's message thread with the date it arrived, the proposed occupant's details and your reply. The day-10 and day-30 dates can sit on the request so a response is never late. This is general information, not legal advice. Check the current statute and your lease before you act.
Sources
Questions
- How long does a New York landlord have to answer a sublet request?
- 30 days from the later of the mailing of the request or the requested information. The landlord may ask for more information within 10 days.
- What if a New York landlord does not answer?
- The landlord's failure to send a notice is deemed consent to the proposed subletting.
- Can a New York landlord refuse an assignment without a reason?
- Yes, consent to an assignment may be unconditionally withheld, but if the refusal is unreasonable the tenant may be released from the lease on 30 days' notice.