Subletting Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what Maryland law says, what's specific to Baltimore - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Our record of Maryland's Real Property Article, a text search of Title 8 for sublet, sublease, subtenant, sublessee and assign, finds no deadline for a landlord to answer a written sublet request and no approval procedure. Any reply period is a term to look for in the lease.
- Real Property § 1-101(i) says "Lease" means any oral or written agreement creating a landlord and tenant relationship, "including any sublease and any further sublease."
- § 8-207(c) lets the landlord sublet a unit a tenant has abandoned "without prior notice to the tenant in default", and § 8-207(d) says "No provision in this section may be waived in any lease."
- In a failure to pay rent case, § 8-401(b)(2)(ii) has the landlord's complaint set forth "the name of each tenant to whom the property is rented or any assignee or subtenant".
- In Baltimore, Article 13, § 2B-41(b) bars a tenant from subleasing an affordable inclusionary unit except to an eligible household at an affordable rent, and Article 4, § 1-1(t) brings subleases into the city's fair housing law.
Understanding the Subletting Clause
A sublet clause decides whether someone else may take over your Baltimore unit for part of the term, what you must ask first, and how long the landlord may take to answer. On the reply period, our record of Maryland's Real Property Article finds no deadline and no sublet approval procedure, which leaves the sublet paragraph of your lease as the document that sets one.
Maryland does know what a sublease is. Real Property § 1-101(i) defines a lease to include "any sublease and any further sublease", so in the Article's definitions the agreement with a subtenant is itself a lease.
The one Title 8 section our record found that uses the word sublet gives the power to the landlord. § 8-207(c) lets the landlord sublet a unit a tenant has abandoned, without prior notice to that tenant. In Baltimore, the city code reaches subleasing in affordable inclusionary units and in its fair housing law.
What renters assume
That Maryland gives a Baltimore landlord a set number of days to answer a sublet request, and that a landlord who says nothing has agreed.
What is actually true
Our record of the Real Property Article finds no reply deadline and no approval procedure, and it finds no rule treating a landlord's silence as consent. New York City's row in the comparison carries 30 days under New York law.
Baltimore's reads no set deadline, which leaves the sublet paragraph you signed as the document that answers it.
The bars in the comparison on this page measure a landlord's deadline to answer a written sublet request. One of the 20 rows carries a figure: New York City, at 30 days. The other 19 rows are blank.
Eleven of those read no statute: Austin, Los Angeles, Seattle, Atlanta, Phoenix, Denver, Miami, Nashville, Philadelphia, Boston and Las Vegas. Chicago and Portland read no deadline.
Washington, DC reads no deadline, lease may bar it, Columbus no statute; lease controls, Newark no deadline; city bars short-term sublets, Detroit no deadline; lease controls, Charlotte no set deadline, and Baltimore no set deadline.
Baltimore's label describes two text searches, one of Title 8 and one of the Baltimore City Code, and neither reached a reply period. The city's sublease rule in § 2B-41(b) sets who may take an affordable unit and at what rent, not how fast a landlord must answer.
Plain English Version
Our record of Maryland's landlord and tenant law finds no deadline for your landlord to answer a sublet request and no approval procedure, which leaves your lease's sublet paragraph as the document that answers it. Maryland does count a sublease as a lease.
If you leave early, the landlord may sublet your unit without telling you first, and you can remain secondarily liable for rent if the landlord gives you prompt notice that the new occupant defaulted. In Baltimore, an affordable inclusionary unit may be sublet just to an eligible household at an affordable rent.
Sublet Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Baltimore, MD
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
Occupancy of Premises — Tenant shall not assign nor underlet any part or the whole of the premises, nor shall permit the premises to be occupied for a period longer than a temporary visit by anyone except the individuals specifically named in the first paragraph of this tenancy, their spouses, and any children born to them hereafter, without first obtaining on each occasion the assent in writing of Landlord.
Quoted from the published opinion in Slavin v. Rent Control Board of Brookline, 406 Mass. 458, 548 N.E.2d 1226 (1990). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
“part or the whole of the premises, nor”
Part or the whole covers a room let to a friend and the entire flat handed over for a summer. Maryland's Real Property Article names both in one phrase. Under § 1-101(i) a lease includes “any sublease and any further sublease.” Whatever you sign with a subtenant is a lease in the Article's own definitions, and this paragraph is what decides whether you may sign it.
“shall permit the premises to be occupied for a”
The lease stops you letting anyone else occupy the unit. Maryland gives the landlord the same power from the other side once a tenant has gone. Under § 8-207(c), if a tenant wrongly fails to take possession or vacates before the end of the term, “the landlord may sublet the dwelling unit without prior notice to the tenant in default.”
“visit by anyone except the individuals specifically”
Anyone is the word a fair housing rule reads closely. Baltimore's Article 4, § 1-1(t) defines rent to include “to sublease”, and § 3-5(a) makes it an unlawful discriminatory housing practice to refuse to rent because of a protected trait such as race, familial status, marital status or source of income. A landlord weighing a proposed subtenant, and a tenant choosing one, are both deciding who may rent.
“first paragraph of this tenancy, their”
The lease fixes its tenants in the first paragraph. Maryland's statutes count more people than that. In a failure to pay rent case, § 8-401(b)(2)(ii) has the complaint name “each tenant to whom the property is rented or any assignee or subtenant”. Baltimore's rent increase subtitle, Article 13, § 8-1(e), says a tenant includes a subtenant and a sublessee, and § 8-1(c) counts a sublessor as a landlord.
The landlord did not have to be reasonable, and the tenant lost. The Supreme Judicial Court read this clause and refused to add anything to it: a residential lease requiring the landlord's written assent before an assignment, an underletting or an additional occupant carries no implied duty to act reasonably. Absent express lease language - or a statute - saying consent will not be unreasonably withheld, the landlord may refuse arbitrarily, so a blanket refusal to accept any replacement occupant did not excuse the tenant's breach. The annulment of the rent board's decision was affirmed and the certificate of eviction ordered to issue. The court knew it was declining a trend: it found no demonstrable trend involving residential leases, reasoned that in a rent-controlled town a landlord has little economic incentive to withhold consent, warned that the opposite rule would generate a plethora of litigation, and handed the question to the Legislature - noting in a footnote that four states had already legislated, New York's Real Property Law § 226-b among them. Two limits belong with the holding. The disposition was not a clean sweep: the court reversed the Appellate Division's award of double costs and attorneys' fees even as it affirmed the annulment. And the closing footnote says the court makes no suggestion about the rule it might adopt in other contexts - this is a rule about residential leases and nothing wider.
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Maryland Law on Subletting Clause
- Maryland's real property law counts a sublease as a lease and names subtenants in eviction cases. Real Property § 1-101(i) says "Lease" means any oral or written agreement creating a landlord and tenant relationship, "including any sublease and any further sublease." In a failure to pay rent case, § 8-401(b)(2)(ii) has the landlord's complaint set forth "the name of each tenant to whom the property is rented or any assignee or subtenant".
- The landlord, not the tenant, is the one Title 8 lets sublet without asking. Real Property § 8-207(c) provides that if a tenant wrongly fails or refuses to take possession or vacates before the end of the term, "the landlord may sublet the dwelling unit without prior notice to the tenant in default." The tenant in default is secondarily liable for rent for the original term, plus consequential damages, if the landlord gives the tenant prompt notice of any default by the sublessee, and § 8-207(d) says "No provision in this section may be waived in any lease."
- Affordable inclusionary units carry a sublease limit. Baltimore City Code Article 13, § 2B-41(b) provides that during the affordability period "the owner of the rental property may not rent or lease any affordable unit and a tenant may not sub-rent or sublease the unit except to an eligible household at a rent that does not exceed an affordable rent applicable to that unit." Section 2B-41(a)(1) sets that period at not less than 30 years from the unit's initial occupancy.
- Baltimore's rent increase subtitle covers subtenants. Article 13, § 8-1(e) says the term tenant "includes a tenant, subtenant, lessee, sublessee, or other person entitled to the possession, occupancy, or the benefits thereof, of any dwelling unit", and § 8-1(c) counts a sublessor as a landlord for that subtitle.
4, § 1-1(t); Baltimore City Code art. 4, § 3-5; Baltimore City Code art.
13, § 8-1 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Our record of Maryland's Real Property Article, a text search of Title 8 in the General Assembly's own text for sublet, sublease, subtenant, sublessee and assign, finds no deadline for a landlord to answer a written sublet request. It finds no sublet approval procedure either.
That leaves the sublet paragraph you signed as the document that sets any reply period.
The contrast in the comparison on this page is New York, whose row carries 30 days. Nothing in our Maryland record supplies an equivalent figure, and our record finds no rule that treats a landlord's silence as consent.
What the Article does is count a sublease as a lease. Real Property § 1-101(i) says "Lease" means any oral or written agreement creating a landlord and tenant relationship, "including any sublease and any further sublease." In the Article's definitions, the agreement you make with a subtenant is itself a lease.
Subtenants also appear in eviction cases. In a failure to pay rent case, § 8-401(b)(2)(ii) has the landlord's complaint set forth "the name of each tenant to whom the property is rented or any assignee or subtenant". A subtenant is a person that complaint can name.
The one Title 8 section our record found that uses the word sublet gives the power to the landlord. § 8-207(c) covers a tenant who wrongly fails or refuses to take possession, or vacates before the end of the term. In that case "the landlord may sublet the dwelling unit without prior notice to the tenant in default."
The same subsection keeps the departing tenant in the picture. The tenant in default is secondarily liable for rent for the term of the original agreement, plus consequential damages, if the landlord gives the tenant prompt notice of any default by the sublessee. § 8-207(d) says "No provision in this section may be waived in any lease."
That notice is the hinge. Secondary liability under § 8-207(c) is tied to prompt notice of the sublessee's default, so where that notice can reach a tenant who has left is part of the question.
Our Maryland record reads § 8-207(c) as the landlord's right to re-let after a tenant leaves, and it does not reach a tenant's own right to sublet. Read § 1-101, § 8-207 and § 8-401 in the General Assembly's current text; the copies behind this page are its 2027 Regular Session files.
Maryland Tenant Protections
Our record of Maryland's Real Property Article, a text search of Title 8 for sublet, sublease, subtenant, sublessee and assign, finds no deadline for a landlord to answer a written sublet request and no sublet approval procedure. That leaves the sublet paragraph of the lease as the document that sets any reply period.
Real Property § 1-101(i) defines a lease to include any sublease and any further sublease.
In a failure to pay rent case, § 8-401(b)(2)(ii) has the complaint name each tenant to whom the property is rented or any assignee or subtenant. Under § 8-207(c), if a tenant wrongly fails to take possession or vacates early, the landlord may sublet the unit without prior notice to that tenant.
The tenant in default is secondarily liable for rent for the original term, plus consequential damages, if the landlord gives prompt notice of any default by the sublessee, and § 8-207(d) bars waiving any provision of the section in a lease. In Baltimore, Article 13, § 2B-41(b) bars a tenant from sub-renting or subleasing an affordable inclusionary unit during the affordability period except to an eligible household at an affordable rent.
Article 4, § 1-1(t) defines rent to include to sublease, and § 3-5(a) makes refusing to rent because of a protected trait such as race, familial status, marital status or source of income an unlawful discriminatory housing practice. Read the current text of each section before relying on it.
What's Specific to Baltimore
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
The Baltimore answer comes from a search, and the search is part of the answer. A text search of the Baltimore City Code on codes.baltimorecity.gov returned 4 results for "sublet" and 9 for "sublease".
Our record of those results finds no Baltimore ordinance giving a landlord a deadline to answer a tenant's sublet request.
The one result that limits a renter's subleasing is Article 13, § 2B-41(b), in the city's inclusionary housing subtitle. During the affordability period, "a tenant may not sub-rent or sublease the unit except to an eligible household at a rent that does not exceed an affordable rent applicable to that unit."
The rule binds the owner in the same sentence. The owner of the rental property may not rent or lease any affordable unit except on those terms, and § 2B-41(a)(1) sets the affordability period at not less than 30 years from the unit's initial occupancy.
A tenant in one of those units carries two conditions into any sublease: the subtenant must be an eligible household, and the rent may not exceed the affordable rent for the unit. Our record reads the section for those units and does not apply it to other rentals.
Fair housing reaches subleases too. Article 4, § 1-1(t) defines rent to include "to sublease", and § 3-5(a) makes it an unlawful discriminatory housing practice to refuse to rent because of a protected trait such as race, familial status, marital status or source of income.
Those two sections meet at the moment a subtenant is chosen. Subleasing is renting in the city's fair housing definitions, and a refusal tied to how a proposed subtenant would pay the rent sits close to source of income.
The rent increase subtitle counts subtenants as well. Article 13, § 8-1(e) says the term tenant "includes a tenant, subtenant, lessee, sublessee, or other person entitled to the possession, occupancy, or the benefits thereof, of any dwelling unit". § 8-1(c) counts a sublessor as a landlord for that subtitle.
The other search results, from their titles and excerpts, concern market stall subletting under Article 16, § 2-5, affordability definitions, an event center employer definition, a license application, a water bill credit, and tax and recordation rules. The city code index on that site reads Current through July 17, 2026.
We describe § 2B-41, § 3-5 and § 8-1 as enacted and do not predict how any of them applies to a particular sublet. Read each as it stands on the day you need it.
Our record of the Real Property Article finds no deadline for an answer, which leaves the clause as the place a reply date would be written.
Our record finds no sublet approval procedure in Title 8. A clause naming the form, the address and the documents gives both sides a process to point to.
Article 13, § 2B-41(b) says a tenant may not sub-rent or sublease such a unit during the affordability period except to an eligible household at a rent within the affordable rent for it.
Read it against § 8-207. Subsection (c) lets the landlord sublet an abandoned unit without prior notice, and § 8-207(d) says no provision in the section may be waived in any lease.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- Md. Code, Real Prop. § 1-101(i); Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-207(c), (d); Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-401(b)(2)(ii); Baltimore City Code art. 13, § 2B-41(b); Baltimore City Code art. 4, § 1-1(t); Baltimore City Code art. 4, § 3-5; Baltimore City Code art. 13, § 8-1, read on mgaleg.maryland.gov. The Maryland General Assembly's site files this section in its 2027 Regular Session statute text, in a PDF generated September 24, 2026.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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A sublet request with no reply date
Our record of Title 8 and of the Baltimore City Code finds no deadline for an answer. Keep the written request and the date you sent it.
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Consent required, with no way to ask
Our record finds no sublet approval procedure in Title 8. A clause that requires consent without saying how to ask leaves the request and the answer both undefined.
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A subtenant turned away over how they pay
§ 1-1(t) defines rent to include to sublease, and § 3-5(a) bars refusing to rent because of a protected trait, a list that includes source of income.
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An affordable unit sublet at market rent
§ 2B-41(b) bars a tenant from sub-renting or subleasing an affordable inclusionary unit except to an eligible household at a rent within the affordable rent.
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A lease that waives § 8-207
§ 8-207(d) says "No provision in this section may be waived in any lease." The section covers the landlord's sublet after a tenant leaves early and the tenant's secondary liability for rent.
Your Rights as a Baltimore Tenant
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A sublease is a lease
§ 1-101(i) defines a lease as any oral or written agreement creating a landlord and tenant relationship, "including any sublease and any further sublease."
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Notice before secondary liability
Under § 8-207(c) a tenant in default is secondarily liable for rent for the original term if the landlord gives the tenant prompt notice of any default by the sublessee.
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A section no lease can waive
§ 8-207(d) says "No provision in this section may be waived in any lease."
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Fair housing reaches subleases
Article 4, § 1-1(t) defines rent to include to sublease, and § 3-5(a) bars refusing to rent because of a protected trait such as race, familial status, marital status or source of income.
What To Do - Step by Step
Read your sublet paragraph for a date and a process
Find whether consent is required, how to ask, and whether a reply date appears. Our record of Maryland's Real Property Article finds no deadline and no procedure, which leaves that paragraph as the text that answers them.
Check whether the unit is an affordable inclusionary unit
If it is, Article 13, § 2B-41(b) limits any sublease to an eligible household at a rent within the affordable rent for the unit.
Ask in writing and put your own date on it
Name the subtenant, the dates and the rent. With no reply deadline in our record, the date on your request is the one both sides can point to later.
Choose a subtenant on lawful grounds
§ 1-1(t) makes subleasing a form of renting in Baltimore's fair housing law, and § 3-5(a) bars refusing to rent because of a protected trait, including source of income.
Leave a forwarding address if you move out early
Under § 8-207(c) secondary liability for rent turns on the landlord's prompt notice of a sublessee's default. An address the landlord can reach is where that notice goes.
Read the current text before relying on any of it
Confirm § 1-101, § 8-207 and § 8-401 in the General Assembly's current text, and read § 2B-41 and § 3-5 on codes.baltimorecity.gov, whose index read Current through July 17, 2026.