The only legal way to get out of a lease is to sublet or transfer your lease. In certain cases, such as Joint Tenancy, there may be restrictions on the right to sublet or transfer the lease.

Although the term sublease (sublet) is widely used, it only applies when the person who signed the lease intends to vacate the unit for a short period of time and expects to return to it afterwards.

If the person who signed the lease does not intend to return to the unit (often referred to as "sublet with option to renew") then the lease must be assigned to the new tenant. Once the decision to either sublet or assign the lease has been made, the landlord should be notified in writing. Form are available on the Regie de Logement site click here

SUBLET:Only applies when the person who signed the lease intends to vacate the unit for a short period of time and expects to return to it afterwards. Under a sublease the landlord is not obliged to agree to an extension of the current lease with the sub-tenant. If the sub-tenant wishes for any reason to file a claim with the Regie du Logement, it must be done by the person that holds the lease and not the sub-lessor. While the landlord should be notified as to who will be replacing you in the unit, and for how long, it is the person who holds the lease who should work out the arrangement with the sub-tenant. Unless you intend to return to the apartment, it is better to assign than to sublet your apartment because in a sublet, the holder of the lease continues to be responsible for any damages to the apartment, as well as for payment of the rent for the duration of the sublease period.

Procedure on how to sublet:

• Start by placing an advertisement. You can use the Off Campus Housing Useful Links section for a list of other housing related sites.
• Draft an application form to get the prospective sub-tenant to fill out, that way you can check on them.
• On the application form you can ask the following information: Name
  Present address
  Reason for inhabiting Montreal?
  Tip: If they are coming to work here, the name of their supervisor, address of the company and the phone number (you can then to call up the supervisor to confirm if this person is actually coming to work with them).
  
• Once you find the right person send your landlord a notice of sublet.
• You will want to have a contract with the sub-tenant, you can buy a standard lease form and fill it out as if you are the landlord and the person is your tenant or draft your own contract.
• Beware of scam (please view the right hand side bar for links to information on housing scams and frauds).

Transferring your lease: Applies when the person who signs the lease does not intend to come back to the apartment. The person hands over all his rights, to the assignee. Lease transfer releases you as tenant from all your rights and responsibilities to the apartment as of the date of the assignment.

When a lease is assigned, the new tenant assumes all the legal rights and responsibilities for the apartment and can take action against the landlord directly. Please be advised that the landlord does have the right to ask you to cover the REASONABLE costs of a credit check on the new tenant. If you plan to assign the lease at the end of the school year, but intend to leave your possessions there during the summer, be warned that your rights to the unit will have been rescinded by virtue of the fact that the lease will have been assigned to someone else.

Procedure of assigning a lease:

• Start by letting the landlord know about your intention.
• Place advertisement for your Sublet/Option to renew Or Lease Transfer. You can use the Off Campus Housing Useful Links section for a list of other housing related sites.
• Once you find the right person get him to fill out the Notice to Assign Your Lease
• The landlord has 15 days to give you an answer and can only refuse with a valid reason. Legally, a landlord may only refuse to give consent to a lease assignment for a serious reason (e.g. the new tenant will be unable to pay the rent). The reason for refusal must be communicated to the tenant within 15 days of receipt of the notice to sublet or assign.
• The Agreement of the Lease assignment is between you and the new tenant and you must give the new tenant a copy of your lease along with the Agreement of lease assignment.

Some technical terms that you will encounter when subletting or transferring a lease are:

Sublease or assignment notification

When you have found someone to whom you can sublet or assign your apartment, be sure to notify the landlord in the language of the lease.

Your responsibility as a tenant

If you are unable to sublet or assign your apartment, you are still responsible for paying the rent for the duration of the lease, even if you are no longer living in the apartment. Leaving the dwelling before the end of the lease could cause you to face legal proceedings. If you fail to fulfill your contractual obligations, the landlord could be entitled to damages, including rent for those months he or she was unable to find a new tenant despite all efforts in good faith, plus reasonable costs of advertising the newly vacated apartment. You could also find yourself liable for the Regie du Logement's application fee, which the landlord would have paid when he or she opened a file with the board.