Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington

subleting apartment

Hello,

I am moving to a new residence, and with permission of my new landlord I can sublet one of the rooms in the apartment. He doesn�t want to do extra paperwork, and so wants everything under my name, and the roommate would pay me his/her half of rent and I would then pay the landlord.

I am wondering what I can do to protect myself in case the roommate I choose ends up being a flake? Is there some sort of agreement I can have the roommate sign that would be between us? What would be the best course of action, or what are my choices so that if the roommate decides not to pay rent, damages ect, I am not held solely responsible- as my name would be the only one on the original rental agreement between me and my new landlord????

Thanks for your help,

Ingrid


Asked on 1/18/07, 2:21 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Elizabeth Powell ELizabeth Powell PS Inc

Re: subleting apartment

Hello: You are proposing that you are the tenant in chief and your roomate's obligations run to you, not to your landlord directly.

Theoretically that would mean that you can evict the roommate (at least in theory).

First off, you need to have this permission from your landlord in writing and signed by him.

Then, you need to use a reputable background checking service that guarantees their work to check the background on any person you propose to take on as a subtenant.

The nicest appearing people can be complete loons, and you need to know a lot about a person before you share a household with them.

The agreement you would have with your roommate would be a sub-lease to your lease. Your sub-lease would still have to track Washington's residential landlord tenant act, codified at RCW 59.18.020 et seq.

If your tenant breaches your agreement, you would still be responsible under your agreement with your landlord to adhere to the terms of your contract or face problems.

You would be held ultimately responsible, so you'll want to choose your roommate/tenant VERY carefully.

Hope this helps. Powell

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Answered on 1/30/07, 1:03 am


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