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Questions about subletting a student apartment


swimmermom3
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I need a quick crash course on subletting apartments. :tongue_smilie:

 

We think Sailor Dude has found a promising living situation for the summer during his internship.

 

Four students at his university are renting a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment in an excellent commuting location.  Three of the students have internships and will be staying there for the summer and then in to the school year as they have a 12 month lease.  Ds would be taking the fourth student's spot for the summer.

 

What do we need to know and do to make sure this goes smoothly.  Ds doesn't want to do anything unless he has a legal claim to the space.  We think there is some paperwork for him to sign and he would be sending the monthly payment to the 4th student through an app called "Venmo."

 

What's the standard process for subletting for those of you that have been there and done that? 

 

It's amazing how much I continue to learn even though it's ds who's off to college.

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If it is important to him that this is legit, they need to have the landlord or apartment rental company authorize the sublet. That may involve subletter filling out renter's paperwork. Rental company may put subletter on the lease and get payment directly from him. That's how my DD's sublet last summer worked.

 

ETA: of course, some students just handle it without notifying the landlord. Which is most likely in violation of their lease.

Edited by regentrude
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If it is important to him that this is legit, they need to have the landlord or apartment rental company authorize the sublet. That may involve subletter filling out renter's paperwork. Rental company may put subletter on the lease and get payment directly from him. That's how my DD's sublet last summer worked.

 

ETA: of course, some students just handle it without notifying the landlord. Which is most likely in violation of their lease.

 

We were thinking he would need to do paperwork with the landlord. I am sure the students have already paid for their first month as they get the keys today, so I can see where ds may need to pay the original student for this month, but I would think after that, all payments should go to the landlord, right?

 

I want to know how to do this right because I think this will be the story of our lives over the next few years (or rather, ds's life).  I doubt once ds lives in this apartment over the summer that we will be able to get him to return to the dorms. I forgot that if ds goes abroad next spring term, he could be the one doing the subletting. I was surprised to see what 4 students could get by sharing a room in an apartment. I think the place is nicer than our home.

 

Regentrude, I was thinking about your dd the other day. I hope she had a great school year and has found a paying internship this summer.

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We were thinking he would need to do paperwork with the landlord. I am sure the students have already paid for their first month as they get the keys today, so I can see where ds may need to pay the original student for this month, but I would think after that, all payments should go to the landlord, right?

 

I want to know how to do this right because I think this will be the story of our lives over the next few years (or rather, ds's life).  I doubt once ds lives in this apartment over the summer that we will be able to get him to return to the dorms. I forgot that if ds goes abroad next spring term, he could be the one doing the subletting. I was surprised to see what 4 students could get by sharing a room in an apartment. I think the place is nicer than our home.

 

Regentrude, I was thinking about your dd the other day. I hope she had a great school year and has found a paying internship this summer.

 

Thanks :) She is having an exhausting school year; the work load is crazy (like spending 30 hours on a single lab report crazy), but she is doing great. This quarter, her boyfriend is on study abroad having fun while she is working her tail off - that's not fair!

For the summer, she has an internship at Argonne National Lab (paid, yeah!).

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We were thinking he would need to do paperwork with the landlord. I am sure the students have already paid for their first month as they get the keys today, so I can see where ds may need to pay the original student for this month, but I would think after that, all payments should go to the landlord, right?

 

I want to know how to do this right because I think this will be the story of our lives over the next few years (or rather, ds's life).  I doubt once ds lives in this apartment over the summer that we will be able to get him to return to the dorms. I forgot that if ds goes abroad next spring term, he could be the one doing the subletting. I was surprised to see what 4 students could get by sharing a room in an apartment. I think the place is nicer than our home.

 

Exactly how this will be done will depend on local real estate laws and the original lease between the tenants and the landlord.  

 

Some landlords will require one check to pay for the entire rent rather than accepting four separate payments.  Another thing to make sure that you are certain of:  What is your son's financial responsibility should the other students not pay their portion of the rent?  Also, what are your son's rights and responsibilities should the roommates do things to violate the lease or damage the property.

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Exactly how this will be done will depend on local real estate laws and the original lease between the tenants and the landlord.  

 

Some landlords will require one check to pay for the entire rent rather than accepting four separate payments.  Another thing to make sure that you are certain of:  What is your son's financial responsibility should the other students not pay their portion of the rent?  Also, what are your son's rights and responsibilities should the roommates do things to violate the lease or damage the property.

 

How would he find these things out without rocking the boat with the new roommates, who are strangers, and without Mom overseeing him or making calls?  He's very independent, but is also in the middle of finals.

 

I suggested that he call the apartment complex management company and ask his questions in a generic situation.

 

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How would he find these things out without rocking the boat with the new roommates, who are strangers, and without Mom overseeing him or making calls?  He's very independent, but is also in the middle of finals.

 

I suggested that he call the apartment complex management company and ask his questions in a generic situation.

 

Without seeing the actual lease, he will not know exactly what the situation is.  Are all four roommates currently on the lease?  The individual who is wanting to sublease the apartment should be willing to let him see the lease.

 

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It sounds like the other 4 will be living in the apartment for the 2017-18 schoolyear. Is that right? (If they already lived in apt this schoolyear and will continue living there next year, then I wouldn't think your son has anything to worry about. Pay the rent to the other student and let him pay the rent as he has been paying.)

 

If it is a new rental situation, I can see asking to see lease and asking if your son can send rent directly to landlord.

 

My senior has lived in an off-campus apartment junior and senior year. She studied abroad spring term junior year, and she sublet her apartment to a friend who was returning from abroad. My daughter's lease said something like subletters had to be approved and put on the lease and this would cost $75. However, everytime my daughter called the apartment mgmt company to find out how to do this, she was told something different. She ended up doing nothing & there was no problem. Her lease was through the end of summer. She was interning out-of-state that summer, so she sublet her apartment for the summer to a different friend, who was moving into the same apartment complex in the fall and wanted to move closeby to make the fall move easier. Again, it worked fine. Of course, she lives in an area where all the apartments are leased to college students, so there may be a greater expectation/acceptance of subleasers by her landlord than the one your son is considering.

 

She had an extremely hard time finding a place to live for her summer internship that year in a place with lots of renters. She was looking at places on craiglist where she would live on someone's couch; I was not happy with that plan. In the end, the mom of one her roommates found them an apartment in a complex, where my daughter had been told that there were no apartments available by the apartment manager. The craziness of trying to find an apartment in that area is why she picked a different company to intern for rising-senior summer. She went with a company that provided apartments for the interns.

 

P.S. When she was talking about leasing an apartment for junior year, I was not a fan of the idea since she was only going to be on campus for less than half the year, studying abroad/interning the rest. I wanted her to stay in the dorm for fall, since she would not need to pay for the dorm for the rest of the year. She did not want to live on campus as a junior. Our compromise was I would pay for fall; she would pay for the rest if she did not find someone to sublet. It worked out for her. On the other hand,she did not try to find a subletter for this summer, since it will be easier to move to her new location from her apartment than from our home. She will be paying the rent this summer.

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Thanks so much, everyone.  He has a place for the summer complete with the required legal paperwork and it's nicer than my house.

 

4 guys with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, engineered hardwoods, gas fireplace, balcony overlooking park, and rooftop swimming pool with deck and grilling area for under 4 figures, including utilities, across from Metro. This is half the rent we anticipated in a high cost of living area.

 

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