Is subletting legal in NYC?
Yes. In New York State, a tenant with a lease in a building of four or more units has the right to sublet, provided the landlord consents, and the landlord may not unreasonably withhold that consent (Real Property Law § 226-b). Two limits matter in practice: a stay shorter than 30 days in a whole apartment without the host present is not a sublet but an illegal short-term rental, and a rent-stabilized tenant must keep the apartment as a primary residence and follow extra rules.
Reviewed October 28, 2026 by the SubletNY team against the sources listed at the end.
What the law actually gives you
Real Property Law § 226-b applies to tenants in buildings with four or more residential units. It says you may sublet subject to the written consent of the landlord, and that consent "shall not be unreasonably withheld". If the landlord refuses without a reasonable basis, you may sublet anyway; if the landlord refuses reasonably, you may not, but you can ask to be released from the lease.
The right comes with a procedure: a request by certified mail, return receipt requested, with specific information about the sublet (see the landlord consent letter guide). The landlord has ten days to ask for more information and thirty days from your request, or from the extra information, to answer. Silence counts as consent.
A lease clause that says "no subletting" does not override the statute in a four-plus-unit building, but a building with three or fewer units is outside § 226-b, and there the lease governs.
What is not a sublet
New York City treats a stay of fewer than 30 consecutive days in a Class A multiple dwelling as a short-term rental. Renting a whole apartment for a stay under 30 days while you are away is prohibited; hosting up to two paying guests for under 30 days while you live there is allowed only if the host is registered with the Office of Special Enforcement under Local Law 18. SubletNY is for stays of weeks to months; anything under 30 days in a whole apartment does not belong on it.
Taking in a roommate is also not a sublet: the "roommate law" (Real Property Law § 235-f) lets a tenant share the apartment with one additional occupant and that occupant's dependent children, without landlord consent, as long as the tenant keeps living there.
Rent-stabilized, co-op and NYCHA apartments
Rent-stabilized tenants may sublet, but only if the apartment stays their primary residence and they intend to return; the sublet may not run longer than two years in any four-year period, and the subtenant may be charged no more than the legal rent plus a 10 percent surcharge when the apartment is sublet furnished with the tenant's furniture. Breaching these rules can cost the stabilized lease.
Co-op shareholders are governed by the proprietary lease and the board's sublet policy rather than § 226-b; many boards limit sublets to a number of years out of a period and charge a fee. Public housing tenants may not sublet at all.
How to stay on the right side of it
This guide is general information from public sources, not legal advice; for a dispute, speak to a tenant lawyer or a tenant association.
- Send the consent request by certified mail with every item § 226-b lists, and keep the receipt.
- Sublet for 30 days or more, or stay in the apartment yourself for shorter stays and register if you host.
- Put the sublet in writing: dates, rent, deposit, what is included, and who is responsible for the lease.
- If you are rent-stabilized, keep proof that the apartment is still your primary residence.
