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Transfer of the Lease

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  • 02-09-2021 2:00pm
    #1
    kikisegura
    Registered Users Posts: 4 ✭


    Hi guys, I am living in a three rooms apartment, with other 2 girls. I am about to leave the country for 5 months so found somebody to take the lease for me during those 5 months. Should I put anything in writing with the new girl? to secure she will transfer it back to me in February?

    The lease is signed by the three room occupants with the Agency, and the names of the three of us at a time are on the contract.



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    #2
    dennyk
    Registered Users Posts: 1,652 ✭✭✭dennyk


    You can't assign or sublet a lease for a property with multiple separate tenants, unless all of the other tenants on the lease agree to the assignment (which they won't if they don't want to move out as well). The only way you can guarantee that you'll still have a place to live when you return is to continue to pay your own rent in full and leave the room vacant (and even that isn't 100% guaranteed, as one of your roommates could well bring in a licensee on their own accord to reduce their own rent costs, and you might have a fight on your hands to get them out when you return).

    Even if you could assign or sublet the place, in general, once you've assigned a lease, that's the end of it; the other person is now the tenant and has no further obligation to you. You can't easily make them transfer the lease back to you when you return; you could make some sort of agreement with them to do so, but if they renege, you're going to have to pursue them in court, as it wouldn't be a matter for the RTB, and that's going to be expensive and time-consuming and won't get you a place to live anytime soon.

    Subletting instead of assigning the lease is an option, but if you do so, you will still be entirely responsible for the rent yourself (which, if it is a joint lease, could mean 100% of the rent for the entire property if the other two tenants leave or just quit paying their share of the rent in the meantime). You will also be responsible for the behaviour and actions of your subletter; if they cause damage to the property, for example, it's coming out of your deposit (and the landlord could sue you for anything the deposit doesn't cover), and if they do something to violate the lease or the law (e.g. engage in anti-social behaviour), your tenancy could be ended by the landlord on that basis. Subletting is a risky proposition as a result, and you should weigh all of the pros and cons carefully before deciding to go that route.

    Also, note that a landlord does not have to allow assignment or subletting at all. You can end your tenancy even in the middle of a fixed term lease if they refuse to allow it, but that wouldn't give you any right to return to the property five months later.



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