When you’re in a bind and you can barely make your own rent from month to month, being in a lease doesn’t always seem like such a great thing. After all, you owe money on rent for the duration of the lease - not just this month. When things look a little hairy, or even when someone simply wants another bit of money coming in every month, there is definitely an option if you have a residential lease: a residential sublease.

Also known as “subletting,” such as saying “we sublet our apartment,” a residential sublease is essentially a way for you to make extra money by renting out an area of your rental property. Put another way, you can rent a room of your apartment to someone else while maintaining control of the entire apartment. Does that sound like a good idea for you? Then it’s time to learn all about residential subleases and see how to handle them properly.

The first thing to take care of when considering a residential sublease is to check with your property manager to make sure you have the authority and permission to carry out a sublease. If you’re not able to at this stage of the game, then all of the other work you do is unnecessary and would ultimately be in vain. You can always check the terms of your lease to make sure that what your property manager tells you about subleasing is accurate as per the terms of your agreement with them, but generally they will be able to tell you right away, simply because they deal with these questions on a fairly regular basis.

After that, you’ll want to carry out your due diligence in making sure you’re subleasing your residential rental to someone trustworthy. It’s possible to run background checks and credit reports on potential tenants even if you’ve never handled these things before - you should at the very least have a referral or some way of verifying that the person you’re subleasing to is exactly who they say they are. Don’t allow anyone with a criminal history into your apartment or rental home!

Once you’ve settled on a tenant, you’ll want to make sure that the agreement is drawn up in writing that will carry the weight of legally-binding material once signed by both parties. For example, you’ll want to make sure that the rent due each month and the due date of this rent will be on that contract - if they don’t sign it, then there’s no real way of making them pay you! Downloading forms online can help, but make sure that you understand what subleasing contracts should look like before you simply print one out and use it. And then read the forms you’re using in order to make sure they cover all that you want to have covered. If you’re in doubt, have a lawyer draft up an agreement for you.