Subletting Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what California law says, what's specific to Los Angeles - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Our California record finds no deadline for a landlord to answer a residential sublet request.
- The Civil Code's reasonable-consent rule covers non-residential leases only. Your written lease governs yours.
- Under LA's Rent Stabilization Ordinance, a one-for-one replacement roommate is not an added tenant.
- Any 10% additional-tenant rent increase must come off once that person moves out.
- Subletting against a lease term can be treated as a curable lease violation.
Understanding the Subletting Clause
This page is for Los Angeles renters who want to sublet, swap in a replacement roommate, or are about to sign a lease with a subletting clause. Our California record finds no residential sublet statute, which leaves that clause as the document that answers your question.
Raise any problem at signing, not the week your plans change. Ask for a reply date, a fixed fee and a promise that consent will not be unreasonably withheld. If your unit is rent-stabilized, city rules add more.
What renters assume
California's tenant-friendly reputation means a landlord can't unreasonably refuse a sublet and must answer within a set time.
What is actually true
The rule that consent may not be unreasonably withheld (§ 1995.260) sits in a chapter limited to non-residential leases. Our California record finds no reply deadline for your apartment.
California sits with the silent majority on this chart. A New York City landlord has 30 days to answer before consent is deemed given, and Chicago must accept a reasonable sublease with no extra fee - California hands that decision to your lease instead.
Sublet Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Los Angeles, CA
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.
18. (A) Assignment, subletting.—Except as provided by § 226-b of the Real Property Law of New York, the Tenant shall not assign the lease, nor sublet the Apartment, or permit the Apartment or any part thereof to be used by any one other than Tenant or members of the immediate family of Tenant, without the prior written consent of Owner in each case, if the Lease is assigned, or if the Apartment is sublet or occupied by anybody other than Tenant or Tenant’s immediate family.
Quoted from the published opinion in Conrad v. Third Sutton Realty Co., 81 A.D.2d 50 (1st Dep't 1981). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“or permit the Apartment or any part thereof”
“Any part thereof” is the phrase that turns a roommate into a lease event. In Los Angeles that matters more than the state code does: under the Rent Stabilization Ordinance and the Rent Adjustment Commission's additional-tenant regulation, a one-for-one replacement roommate is not treated as an added tenant at all. One person leaves, one arrives, and the household has not grown.
See the example
“to be used by any one other than Tenant”
The lease's default is refusal; the city's overlay is a standard. For a replacement roommate the landlord may screen by ordinary criteria - the same checks run on any applicant - but may not unreasonably withhold approval. Screening and vetoing are different acts, and only one of them is available.
See the example
“members of the immediate family of Tenant”
California's code does not draw this line for you. Civil Code § 1995.010 limits the assignment-and-sublease chapter - including the § 1995.260 rule that consent may not be unreasonably withheld - to leases for other than residential purposes, so for a home the written lease governs whether a tenant may sublet and on what terms. The immediate-family line above is the lease's own work, not the code's.
See the example
“if the Lease is assigned”
The usual consequence of getting this wrong in California is a notice, not a lawsuit. Subletting or short-term-renting against a lease term can be treated as a curable lease violation - the kind you fix by ending the arrangement - and rent-control cities layer their own approval rules on top. There is also no fixed number of days for a California landlord to answer a residential sublet request, so a request can sit unanswered without the silence meaning anything. In New York it would already have meant yes.
See the example
A landlord who gives no reason is treated as having said yes. The tenant proposed a documented sublessee; the managing agent's reply gave no reason at all - only that permission would not be granted, with an offer to let her terminate the lease instead. The Appellate Division held that a landlord who rejects a residential sublease without stating any valid reason is deemed to have consented under Real Property Law § 226-b, and that the tenant may compel acceptance of a bona fide sublessee. The court rejected the argument that release from the lease was the tenant's only remedy: in a housing shortage, that reading would leave a tenant with a meaningless right to surrender. Read the panel accurately - a divided panel affirmed, three judges adopting the rationale below, while two concurred separately on a narrower reading of § 226-b (2) and expressly declined to say what happens when a landlord does state reasons that turn out to be unreasonable. One of them noted that this lease carried no provision that consent would not unreasonably be withheld, which is why the statute had to do all the work. Read it with its date, too: this construes § 226-b before its substantial 1983 amendment. The deemed-consent result still tracks current § 226-b (2) (c), but today's statute also expressly lets a tenant sublet where consent is unreasonably withheld - the very question the concurrence reserved. The unit was a Manhattan apartment; the words rent control and stabilization appear nowhere in the opinion. Printed above is the first sentence of paragraph 18(A); the paragraph runs on for another 107 words of non-waiver boilerplate that is not reproduced here.
How this state's law treats this clause
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.
California Law on Subletting Clause
- Civil Code § 1995.010 limits the assignment-and-sublease chapter, including the § 1995.260 rule that consent may not be unreasonably withheld, to leases for other than residential purposes.
- For residential tenancies the written lease governs whether a tenant may sublet and on what terms.
- Our California record finds no statute giving a landlord a fixed number of days to answer a residential sublet request.
- Subletting or short-term-renting against a lease term can be treated as a curable lease violation, and local rent-control cities impose their own approval rules.
Sources include Cal. Civ. Code § 1995.010 (sublease-consent chapter covers non-residential leases only) - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Copy and send: Before anyone moves in, once you have read your lease's subletting clause
Ask to sublet or replace a roommate
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
Our California record shows four things about subletting a home:
- No residential consent rule. Cal. Civ. Code § 1995.010 limits the assignment-and-sublease chapter, including the § 1995.260 rule that consent may not be unreasonably withheld, to leases for other than residential purposes.
- Your lease governs. For a residential tenancy, the written lease decides whether you may sublet and on what terms.
- No reply deadline. Our California record finds no statute giving a landlord a fixed number of days to answer a residential sublet request.
- A curable violation. Subletting or short-term renting against a lease term can be treated as a curable lease violation, which means notice and a chance to fix it.
Local rent-control cities add their own approval rules on top. Statutes get amended, so check the current California text before you rely on this.
What's Specific to Los Angeles
How California compares
Landlord's deadline to answer a written sublet request, state by state
30 daysNo figureGuide coming soonYou are here
See all 25 cities as a chart
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.
Los Angeles adds rules for roommates in rent-stabilized units. Under the Rent Stabilization Ordinance and the Rent Adjustment Commission's additional-tenant regulation, a roommate replaced one-for-one is not treated as an added tenant.
Your landlord may screen that person on ordinary criteria but may not unreasonably withhold approval. Any 10% additional-tenant rent increase must be removed once that person moves out, so check your rent ledger.
The LA Housing Department can tell you whether the ordinance covers your building.
Our California record finds no deadline for one. A written decision by a stated date is a term to ask for, not a right.
The § 1995.260 standard covers non-residential leases only, so ask for these words in your lease before you sign.
Raise it before you sign, and ask for an exception for replacement roommates. Our California record finds no statute creating a right to sublet.
Our California record finds no rule barring sublet fees. Ask for a fixed dollar amount written into the 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.
- Cal. Civ. Code § 1995.010 (sublease-consent chapter covers non-residential leases only), read on leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Consent at the landlord's sole discretion
Our California record finds no reasonable-consent rule for residential leases. A sole-discretion clause takes its meaning from the lease alone, so ask to change it before you sign.
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A request with no reply date
Our California record finds no response window and no rule that makes silence a yes. Ask for a written answer by a date you set.
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Instant termination, no cure period
Wording that makes an unapproved sublet an immediate default. A sublet against a lease term can be treated as curable, so a no-cure clause deserves a lawyer's eye.
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A permanent rent bump for a roommate
In an LA rent-stabilized unit, a 10% additional-tenant increase must come off once that person leaves. A clause making it permanent conflicts with the RSO regulation.
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A short-term listing your lease bars
Listing the place on a short-term rental site when the lease bars it is a quick route to a cure-or-quit notice.
Your Rights as a Los Angeles Tenant
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One-for-one roommate replacement
Under LA's Rent Stabilization Ordinance, a roommate swapped one-for-one is not an added tenant, so no additional-tenant increase should follow the swap.
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Screening yes, stonewalling no
An LA landlord may screen a proposed roommate on ordinary criteria but may not unreasonably withhold approval under the Rent Adjustment Commission's additional-tenant regulation.
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The 10% add-on comes off
Where a 10% additional-tenant increase was applied in a rent-stabilized unit, it has to be removed once that person moves out.
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A chance to cure first
An unapproved sublet can be treated as a curable lease violation, and removing you still takes a court case, never a lockout or a shut-off.
What To Do - Step by Step
Read your sublet clause
Check whether consent is required, whether subletting is banned, what it costs and whether a reply date appears.
Check if the RSO covers you
Look up your building with the LA Housing Department. Rent Stabilization Ordinance coverage is what brings in the roommate rules.
Ask in writing
Name the subtenant or replacement roommate, the dates and the rent. Email gives you a dated copy and a thread to follow up in.
Call a swap a replacement
If one person is moving out and another in, say exactly that. A one-for-one swap is not an added tenant under the RSO.
Send screening material up front
Offer the proposed roommate's application, ID and income documents. Ordinary screening is allowed; unreasonable refusal is not, and you want that contrast in writing.
Get help before a deadline runs
If approval stalls or a cure-or-quit notice arrives, call the LA Housing Department or a free tenant clinic before the deadline runs out.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Subletting rules near California
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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