Subletting & Reassigning
Two ways to end your lease or leave the unit without giving notice are by subletting and reassigning the lease.
A sublet is where you rent the unit to another tenant for a period of time and then return to the unit after. If you sublet, you are still responsible for damages, paying rent if the person you sublet to doesn’t, and all other obligations. Subletting is in some ways the worst of both worlds; you are a landlord to the subtenant but a tenant to the landlord.
A lease reassignment is where you don’t intend to return to the unit, and you sign the lease over to someone else. If you reassign your lease, the landlord must give you back your security deposit (unless you and the new tenant work out a deal where the new tenant pays you the security deposit directly and your old deposit is transferred under their name).
A landlord is allowed to ban subletting in the lease rules, but they cannot ban you from reassigning the lease. They can also charge you a subletting or reassigning fee of no more than $75. You can’t be charged this unless the landlord actually has to pay costs for the new tenant to move in.
The tenant is required to find the new tenant to live in the unit, they can’t ask the landlord to find someone. Your landlord has the right to meet and approve the person moving in, but they cannot disapprove of someone unless there is good reason.
A good reason…
IS
No income
Bad credit score
Poor references
Would break the rules by living there (e.g. having a pet in a no pets building)
IS NOT
Person is a student
Landlord just doesn’t like them
Anything protected by Human Rights Legislation
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Landlords sometimes give tenants a hard time and say they cannot sublet or reassign a lease, or that they don’t approve of the potential new tenant. However, unlike during the rental application process, it’s harder for landlords to discriminate against potential tenants for a lease reassignment.
Subletting can be risky, subtenants can cause damages or not pay rent, leaving you responsible.
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Tell your landlord it’s illegal for them to refuse to reassign or sublet your unit and they cannot withhold consent “unreasonably and arbitrarily”.
If a landlord refuses to reassign a lease, you can take them to Residential Tenancies and have them order the landlord to accept the reassignment.
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It’s not unreasonable for a landlord to refuse a tenant who wants to use the unit as an Airbnb. Even if the tenant lives in the unit and only rents it when they’re away. (CAPREIT v. Wagstaff, 2020 NSSM 27)
