Information for tenants in Nova Scotia

 

Tenants' Rights Guide

Community Clinics

One on one legal information for tenants

Forms

Who we are and how to contact us

 

SUBLETTING AND ASSIGNING

 WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

 

A sublet is where you intend to return to a unit after a set amount of time. You are still responsible for damages, paying rent if the person you are subletting to fails to do so, and all other obligations under the lease and the Act.  

An assignment is where you do not intend to return to the unit and you sign over the lease to someone else. You then would get your security deposit back (upon the new tenant putting up a security deposit of their own) or you would receive the money for the security deposit from the new tenant and you no longer have any responsibilities to the unit. 

 

THE LAW

Your landlord MUST allow you to sublet or assign your unit. It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to find someone to sublet or assign to. Your landlord DOES have the right to meet and APPROVE the person you will sublet or assign to beforehand. Your landlord cannot disapprove of someone unless there is good reason (‘Good reason’ would be: the person has no income. ‘Good reason’ is NOT that the person is a student, young, looks ‘dirty’, has kids, or that the landlord just doesn’t like them).

The landlord IS ALLOWED to charge a sublet or assignment fee. The MAXIMUM FEE is $25. You cannot be charged for this unless the landlord actually had to pay something for the new tenant to move in.

REALITY

§            Landlords can give you a hard time and say that you cannot sublet or assign your unit or that they don’t approve of a new tenant you’ve found

§            The people you sublet to can sometimes cause damages or not pay rent, leaving you responsible.

 

THINGS TO TRY

*          It is a really good idea to get your subletters to sign a lease with you and pay a damage deposit, that way if they cause damages or don’t pay rent you can take them to Residential Tenancies (and they will be way less likely to pull something if they’ve signed and put up money).

*          Tell your landlord that it is illegal to refuse to let you sublet or assign your unit and that your landlord cannot withhold consent “unreasonably or arbitrarily.”

*          File a complaint with Residential Tenancies if your landlord is being unreasonable.

*           If you think that your landlord is being unreasonable, you can let the new tenants move in anyway. Your landlord would then have to file with Residential Tenancies to kick them out and prove that they did not refuse the tenants “unreasonably or arbitrarily.” If you do this, make sure to let the new tenants know. They may not want to move in knowing that they have not been approved.  
 
The information on this site contains general legal information only and is not intended to serve as a replacement for professional or other legal advice.  Further, this guide only applies to Residential Tenancies in Nova Scotia. 
Last updated: November 19, 2006.