Sublease Agreement Template
A sublease has three people in it, not two: the original tenant (now the sublessor), the subtenant moving in, and the landlord, whose written consent it depends on. A direct lease template doesn’t model any of that — this one does, plus the clause every sublease needs and most people forget: the original tenant stays liable to the landlord even after subletting. Download the ready-to-fill template below, or read the field-by-field checklist first.
Download the Sublease Agreement
A complete, ready-to-fill PDF — 11 clauses, blanks for every detail, and a signature block for each party. Free, no email, no account. Read it and adapt it before you use it; the cover page explains what it can and cannot do for you.
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This is a template, not legal advice
This document is a general-purpose template provided for information only. It is not legal advice, it does not create a lawyer–client relationship, and nobody has reviewed it against your situation.
Laws differ by country, state and province, and they change. A clause that is standard in one place can be unenforceable — or illegal — in another. Terms that are ordinary between two businesses can be void in a consumer or employment context.
Read every clause before you use it, fill in every blank, and delete anything that does not apply. For anything high-value, unusual, or that you could not afford to lose a dispute over, have a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction review it before it is signed.
What to include in a sublease agreement
These are the fields and clauses a sublease agreement needs. A few of them don’t exist in a direct lease at all — they’re here because a sublease sits on top of a lease that already exists, between people the master lease never anticipated.
Parties & the master lease
Sublessor (the original tenant), Subtenant, and the landlord and master lease the sublease sits underneath.
The sublet premises
Whether the whole property or only part of it (a room, a floor) is being sublet, and what's included.
Landlord's written consent
A dedicated clause and signature line — most master leases forbid subletting without it, and without it this document has no effect.
Sublease term
Start and end dates that can't run past the master lease's own end date — a sublease can't outlive the lease it depends on.
Rent & how it's paid
The amount, due date, and whether it's paid to the sublessor or straight to the landlord.
Security deposit
Amount, who holds it, and the timetable for returning it after the subtenant moves out.
Master lease terms flow down
The subtenant is bound by the same restrictions — permitted use, pets, alterations, guests — that the master lease imposes on the sublessor, not just whatever this document restates.
Sublessor remains liable
The original tenant stays on the hook to the landlord for the whole master lease — a subtenant defaulting does not let the sublessor off it.
Signatures & date
Sublessor, subtenant, and the landlord's consent — all three, dated. It isn't binding until all three have signed.
The landlord’s consent, and why the original tenant is never off the hook
A residential lease template models two people: a landlord and a tenant. A sublease has to model three, because the tenant who signed the original lease — the master lease — doesn’t disappear when a subtenant moves in. They become the sublessor, and they stay the tenant the landlord actually has a contract with. Almost every master lease either forbids subletting outright or requires the landlord’s prior written consent before it can happen at all, so a sublease agreement that doesn’t capture that consent isn’t really a sublease agreement — it’s a private arrangement the landlord never agreed to, which is itself grounds to evict the original tenant.
The template above treats the landlord’s consent as a signature, not a formality: it includes a dedicated clause stating the sublease has no effect until the landlord signs it, and a third signature block for the landlord at the end of the document. Until all three parties — sublessor, subtenant and landlord — have signed, the document is a draft and gives the subtenant no right to occupy anything.
The second thing a direct lease template can’t model is what happens to the original tenant’s liability. Subletting doesn’t release the original tenant from the master lease — they remain fully responsible to the landlord for the rent and every other obligation under it, for as long as the master lease runs, whether or not the subtenant pays on time. The template’s liability clause says this explicitly, and separately gives the sublessor the right to recover from the subtenant anything the sublessor ends up owing the landlord because of the subtenant’s own default — the obligation to the landlord doesn’t move, but the loss it causes can still be passed down between sublessor and subtenant.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Subletting without asking the landlord first. Most leases either forbid subletting outright or require the landlord's prior written consent — subletting anyway is itself a breach of the master lease, on top of whatever the sublease says, and can get the original tenant evicted regardless of how careful the sublease document is.
- Assuming the sublease replaces the master lease. It doesn't. The master lease still governs the property, the landlord is still owed rent under it, and every restriction it places on the tenant still applies — a sublease adds a layer, it doesn't remove the one underneath.
- Believing a sublease ends the original tenant's liability. It doesn't, unless the landlord agrees to a separate release or a full assignment (a different document). Under a sublease, the original tenant is still the one the landlord can pursue if rent goes unpaid — the subtenant's promises run to the tenant, not to the landlord.
- Letting the sublease term run past the master lease's end date. A subtenant with six months left on a sublease has nothing if the master lease itself expires or is terminated after four — the sublease can't create a right to occupy that outlasts the lease it depends on.
- Skipping a copy of the master lease. A subtenant who never reads the master lease has no way to know what they're actually agreeing to be bound by — the restrictions that flow down under this document only work if the subtenant has seen them.
Get your sublease signed
Fill in the template above and send it to your subtenant and landlord for signature with a free Evenseal account — 5 documents a month, no card required. Only need your own copy signed? Self-sign for free with no account at /sign-pdf.
Not legal advice — check your master lease’s own subletting clause, and have a local attorney review anything unusual before you sign.