Subleases & lease assignments on DIY landlord software — consent, screening, who the portal bills

• Is: a side-by-side of how RentRedi, TurboTenant, and Avail let you document consent to a sublease or assignment, screen the incoming person, record them (or deliberately not record them) on the lease, decide who gets billed and who can pay, handle autopay and the deposit, and keep the original tenant’s liability visible. It includes a terminology table, a decision table (sublease / assignment / roommate swap / new lease / early-termination buyout / refuse consent), a worked $1,850 Colorado example with wrong-outcome totals, a checklist, and an FAQ.
• Is not: a template sublease or assignment agreement, or advice on whether you must consent, whether a refusal is reasonable, whether a fee is lawful, or whether anyone is released. The legal orientation comes from Nolo and Justia plain-English summaries, plus one state example (Colorado) with the statutes and cases we actually read. Take it to counsel as a starting point.
• Not the same as: one co-tenant leaving while the others stay (see roommate & co-tenant changes), the whole tenancy ending early with a fee or release (see early termination & lease-break fees), or adding someone who guarantees rent but doesn’t live there (see co-signers & guarantors). If the landlord is the one transferring (selling the rental with the lease in place), see buying or selling with tenants in place. This page links to those for the overlapping steps rather than repeating them.
• Uncertainty rule: TurboTenant’s and RentRedi’s rows rely on help articles dated Jun–Oct 2026. Avail’s legacy support article titled “Sublease an Apartment” exists but rendered only “Loading” in our fetch. Avail’s rows rely on education articles (2023–2026) and community posts (2021–2023). TurboTenant’s lease-clause wording comes from a Jan 2024 sample PDF and may not match today’s builder. Treat these rows as “confirm in your account.”

• Most leases require your written consent. Nolo’s How to Sublet Your Rental (updated Aug 18, 2026): “Most leases restrict or prohibit sublets—also called subleases—without express written consent from the landlord.” Nolo’s tenant checklist for a request: a completed rental application from the prospective subtenant, proof of income and employment, a credit report, prior-landlord references, and proposed start and end dates. That’s a reasonable list to ask for in writing.
• Whether you may say no depends on state and local law and on your clause. Same Nolo article: New York requires landlords of buildings with four or more units to allow sublets and not unreasonably withhold consent (N.Y. Real Prop. Law § 226-b), and rent-control cities “often restrict a landlord’s ability to refuse.” Elsewhere, “if a residential lease explicitly requires landlord consent without setting a ‘reasonableness’ standard, the landlord generally has the right to refuse,” but if it says consent “shall not be unreasonably withheld,” you need “a legitimate reason.” Nolo’s Tenant vs. Subtenant (updated Sep 10, 2026) adds that “Some states, such as California and Florida, prohibit landlords from unreasonably withholding their consent to a subtenancy.” Colorado has its own twist (below).
• Reasonable reasons are business reasons. Nolo lists a prospective subtenant’s “history of unpaid rent, prior evictions, a poor credit score, or insufficient income,” and warns that denials “based on personal bias or factors that aren’t related to the landlord’s business policies might violate fair housing laws.” Use the same written criteria you use for any applicant (applications).
• Sublease: you deal with your tenant, not the subtenant. Nolo: “The landlord must sue the tenant for the unpaid rent or to evict the subtenant, and then the responsibility falls on the tenant to sue or remove the subtenant.” Nolo also notes that state rules “such as security deposit limits and notice periods often apply to subtenancies.” Your tenant becomes a small landlord with real obligations.
• Careful about taking rent from a subtenant. Justia’s Subleases and Assignments by Tenants (last reviewed Oct 2025): a subtenant “can turn into a tenant if the landlord and you start acting as though the subtenant is a co-tenant. The most common issue here is who receives rent from the subtenant.” This collides with vendor advice (see the uncertainty callouts). Both TurboTenant’s guide and Avail’s education suggest letting the subtenant pay the landlord online.
• Assignment: the assignor usually isn’t off the hook. Justia: the original tenant “will remain liable for rent that the assignee does not pay unless the landlord agrees otherwise,” which “essentially makes the original tenant a guarantor for the rent.” A release is a separate, deliberate decision.
• Unauthorized sublets and short-term rentals. Nolo: subletting without written permission is a breach that can lead to “a notice to cure or quit (depending on state law), … eviction proceedings against both you and your subtenant, and … monetary damages.” Listing on Airbnb or VRBO “almost always violates lease prohibitions against unauthorized subletting.” Nolo also notes an unofficial long-term roommate “might be legally considered a subtenant.” Before you send a violation notice, see the tool notes and tenant notices, and check your state’s eviction-cause rules.

• No Colorado statute we found requires residential landlords to allow sublets or sets a consent standard. The rule comes from case law. In Basnett v. Vista Village Mobile Home Park, 699 P.2d 1343 (Colo. App. 1984), a mobile-home-space lease case, the Court of Appeals adopted Restatement (Second) of Property § 15.2(2): consent “cannot be withheld unreasonably, unless a freely negotiated provision in the lease gives the landlord an absolute right to withhold consent.”
• Caution: the Colorado Supreme Court reversed that case on the facts and did so “without reaching the propriety of adopting section 15.2(2)” (Vista Village Mobile Home Park v. Basnett, 731 P.2d 700 (Colo. 1987)). Its footnote notes that under the Restatement comments, “the shorter the lease, the less the need to justify a refusal,” and that a reason may suffice for a residential lease but not a commercial one, “and vice-versa.”
• The Court of Appeals kept applying the rule. In Cafeteria Operators v. AmCap/Denver, 972 P.2d 276 (Colo. App. 1998), a commercial sublease case, the court held the Basnett reasoning “has broad application and is not, therefore, limited to mobile home leases”: “without a freely negotiated provision in the lease giving the landlord an absolute right to withhold consent, a landlord’s decision to withhold must be reasonable.” Reasonableness looks at factors relating to “the landlord’s interest in preserving the value of the property” and asks what “a reasonably prudent person in the landlord’s position” would do. List v. Dahnke, 638 P.2d 824 (Colo. App. 1981), a Colorado Springs shopping-center lease, adds: “Arbitrary considerations of personal taste, convenience, or sensibility are not proper criteria.” Our read: treat “reasonable refusal” as the safe operating assumption for a Colorado residential lease unless counsel has drafted a negotiated absolute-discretion clause. The Supreme Court has never confirmed the rule, and the leading cases are commercial or mobile-home cases.
• Local guidance agrees, mostly. The City of Boulder’s Landlord Tenant Handbook: “If a lease does not address subleasing and/or assignments, a landlord cannot unreasonably withhold consent.” On assignment, the original tenant “may retain other obligations unless fully released.” An older University of Colorado Denver student landlord/tenant handbook (PDF last modified 2016, fee figures “as of January 2010”) says the opposite on release: in an assignment “the original tenant is released from further liability.” We follow Boulder, Nolo, and Justia, and flag the conflict.
• In Colorado, your tenant becomes a “landlord” when they sublet. C.R.S. 38-12-502(5) defines “landlord” as “the owner, manager, lessor, or sublessor,” and 38-12-102(2) imports that definition into the security-deposit part. Part 9 (applications and screening) uses the same wording in 38-12-902(2). Our reading: a Colorado master tenant who collects a deposit or an application fee from a subtenant takes on the deposit-cap, deposit-return, and application-fee rules themselves. Tell them so in your consent letter, and have them talk to counsel.
• Deposit cap and timing. Since Aug 7, 2023, a landlord may not require a deposit over “two monthly rent payments” (38-12-102.5). Return or a written statement is due within one month after termination or surrender and acceptance, extendable by lease to no more than 60 days (38-12-103, per our early-termination page). Unclear: whether an assignment counts as a “termination” of the assignor’s tenancy for deposit timing. Get the assignor’s written deposit election in the assignment.
• Fees for processing a sublet or assignment. We found no Colorado statute that sets a “sublet fee” or “lease-transfer fee.” But 38-12-903 limits a “rental application fee” to the landlord’s actual or average processing cost, requires a disclosure or itemization and a receipt, and requires refunding any unused amount. The definition in 38-12-902(5) includes “any nonrefundable fee that precedes the onset of tenancy.” Our reading: a flat “assignment fee” charged to the incoming assignee before they take over may be treated as an application fee. Whether an owner screening a subtenant (who will rent from your tenant, not you) is dealing with a “prospective tenant” is unclear. The portable-screening-report rule (38-12-904(1.5), see our co-signers page) may apply too. And under 38-12-801, a fee isn’t “rent”: post it as a fee, never as a Rent charge.
• Late fees on the assignee’s first month. 38-12-105: no late fee unless rent is at least seven calendar days late, and the fee is capped at the greater of $50 or 5% of the past-due rent. That cap is relevant when a tool’s auto late fee hits an assignee who didn’t set up autopay (worked example below).
• Not verified: how Colorado’s 2024 for-cause eviction law (HB 24-1098) treats unauthorized subletting. We couldn’t read the statute text tonight (the code sites we tried were blocked). Ask counsel before treating an unauthorized sublet as grounds.

• Sublease, record but don’t bill: + Add → Renters → unit → subtenant’s name and contact, with Send Invite Skip/Later if you don’t want them in the portal yet → profile ⋮ → Screen Tenant ($39.99 / $49.99, tenant-paid). Leave them unselected in Edit Lease so the Tenants list shows “Not on Lease.” They then can’t see the master tenant’s rent charge, because only people “assigned to the same rent charge” share that view.
• Sublease paper: upload your consent letter (subtenant name, dates, conditions, “consent is not a release and does not create a tenancy”) → Signature Request to the master tenant. Store the sublease the tenant signed with the subtenant under the master tenant’s Documents. Have counsel word the consent.
• Sublease end: when the subtenant leaves, Unlink them (charges and history are kept, and they’re notified).
• Assignment: screen the assignee the same way. Signature Request for your assignment & assumption document to both the assignor and the assignee. Then, before the next rent posts: Edit Lease → Next → Tenants → select the assignee, deselect the assignor → review the charge preview → Save Lease Charges.
• Autopay: the assignee sets their own amount and date. Ask the assignor to cancel theirs, because the help center doesn’t say Unlink stops it. Unlink the assignor only after their last payment.
• Release or not: nothing in RR marks the assignor as “still liable.” Keep the signed assignment, their forwarding contact, and a note in your document vault. Prior Tenants keeps their ledger.

• Clause: the builder’s lease (per the 2024 Colorado sample) already requires your prior written consent to assign or sublet. If you want a “consent not unreasonably withheld” standard, screening-fee terms, or a short-term-rental ban, TT’s guide suggests adding them. Have counsel review.
• Sublease: don’t add the subtenant to the lease profile. Adding them puts them in your tenant list and portal, and a Replace addendum makes them a tenant. Screen them through Invite to Apply if you want the report in TT, then store your signed consent under the lease profile’s Documents. Rent keeps billing the master tenant, and their Autopay keeps running.
• Assignment, paper: Lease Profile → Documents → Build a Lease Addendum → People on the lease: Remove the assignor, Add the assignee (Replace) → effective date → Review and E-Sign → Request E-Signature → Send for Signature. Needs Essentials or Pro. One addendum at a time. Resolve split charges involving the assignor first. The assignee receives the original lease in the signing package. Because departing tenants don’t sign, attach or separately collect an assignment & assumption signed by the assignor. That’s our recommendation, not TT’s.
• On the effective date: the assignee is on the profile, and the assignor moves to past tenants with Autopay removed. The assignor can still pay charges due on or before that date.
• Then fix payments yourself: the addendum doesn’t touch “Existing unpaid charges,” “Recurring rent charges or payment rules,” or “Autopay enrollment for new tenants.” Check the monthly rule and any split, and have the assignee enroll in Autopay before the first due date.
• Want the assignor as a formal backstop? TT’s addendum can’t add new co-signers (“create a new lease agreement instead”). If you want the assignor in a guarantor role, see co-signers & guarantors and decide whether a new lease is better.

• Clause: Avail says its state templates include a sublease clause. Customizing it is Unlimited Plus ($9/unit/mo). If an existing lease has no clause, Avail’s free amendment can add one, and its amendment article lists “The tenant requests to sublet” as a use.
• Sublease: screen the subtenant (application + screening request), then generate an amendment documenting consent: parties, effective date, the subtenant’s name and dates, and that the tenant stays responsible. Collect signatures offline and upload. Avail’s own line is that “your tenant is responsible for their rent payment every month.” Keep the subtenant off the lease so they aren’t a signer tied to invoices.
• Assignment: Avail’s community route is a new lease for the replacement. Avail ends the old lease and deletes its remaining payments after the term date. That gives you a clean ledger, but a new lease is a new contract, so separately get the assignment (or a release) signed by the original tenant. Decide in writing whether they stay liable.
• Deposit: on the new lease, delete or don’t create a duplicate deposit invoice if the assignee bought the original tenant’s deposit claim (Model A below). Refunds happen outside Avail.
• Master tenant using Avail themselves: a Jan 2021 community reply says a tenant renting out a room could use Avail for “screening, lease agreements, and rent collection.” That may suit your tenant, but Avail’s lease templates are landlord leases, not sublease agreements. Your consent letter still governs.

• Sublease: you keep holding the master tenant’s deposit, untouched. The master tenant may take their own deposit from the subtenant. In Colorado that makes them a “sublessor” landlord subject to the two-month cap and return rules (our reading of 38-12-502(5) and 38-12-102). Don’t also collect a deposit from the subtenant in your portal, because you have no rental agreement with them.
• Assignment, Model A (claim transfers): you keep holding the deposit. The assignee pays the assignor privately, and all three sign a line in the assignment saying the deposit and any refund now belong to the assignee. Your deposit register changes, and no money moves.
• Assignment, Model B (refund + recollect): walk through and document the condition (condition reports), refund or itemize the assignor’s deposit, and charge the assignee a fresh Security Deposit charge due before they take possession. Time the refund against your state’s deadline. In Colorado, whether an assignment starts the 38-12-103 clock is unclear, so ask counsel.
• Never both: refunding the assignor and telling the assignee they inherited the deposit means two people think they own one refund.

• Subtenant put on the rent charge: in RR you Edit Lease → + Add Tenant for S “so S can pay you directly.” A’s $1,850 AutoPay still runs on Jan 1 and S pays $1,850 in the portal: $3,700 collected for January, and you owe a $1,850 refund. If nobody notices until April, it’s $14,800 collected against $7,400 owed. Separately, S now pays you, which is the fact pattern Justia says gives a subtenant “a strong argument” they’re your tenant.
• TT Replace used for a temporary sublet: you run a Tenant Change Addendum removing A and adding S, effective Jan 1. A moves to past tenants, A’s Autopay is removed, and S is now a tenant on your lease, not A’s subtenant. On May 1 you need a second addendum to put A back. If you forget, May’s $1,850 has no enrolled payer, and S, not A, is on the lease through Jul 31.
• Second deposit: you also bill S a $1,850 Security Deposit in your portal. S has now paid $3,700 in deposits to two people for one house, and you hold a deposit from someone you have no rental agreement with. Delete the charge or refund it.
• S stops paying A in March: you still bill A. A pays on Mar 9. In Colorado no late fee is allowed until rent is 7 days late, and the cap is the greater of $50 or 5%, so $92.50 here (38-12-105). Don’t chase S in your portal: S owes A.
• S doesn’t leave on Apr 30: that’s A’s problem to fix first. Nolo: the landlord sues the tenant “to evict the subtenant.” Your ledger shows A owing May rent as usual.

• Assignee never enrolled in Autopay (TT): the Replace addendum takes effect Feb 1 and removes A’s Autopay, but “incoming tenants must set up their own.” February’s $1,850 sits unpaid. If your auto late fee is set to a flat $100 (example setting), on a $1,850 Colorado rent that’s $7.50 over the $92.50 cap, and it can’t post before Feb 8 anyway.
• Assignor never deselected (RR): you add B in Edit Lease but leave A selected. Both are on the February charge. A’s $1,850 AutoPay pulls and B pays $1,850: $3,700 for February, a $1,850 refund, and A keeps getting reminders for a house they left.
• New lease regenerates the deposit (Avail): you start a new lease for B from Feb 1 and it issues a $1,850 deposit invoice. B’s move-in demand becomes $3,700 (Feb rent + deposit) even though B already bought A’s deposit claim. If B pays, you hold $3,700 in deposits on one house. That’s two months’ rent, which is exactly the Colorado cap (38-12-102.5), and one of those deposits shouldn’t exist.
• Accidental release: your approval email says “A is off the lease now.” B pays through May, then skips June and July: $3,700 unpaid plus late fees. Under a no-release assignment, Justia’s default lets you look to A as well as B. If that email is read as a release, you look only to B. Decide deliberately, and have counsel check what counts as a release.
• Deposit promised twice: you refunded A $1,850 (Model B) but never charged B a new deposit, and the assignment still says B inherits A’s deposit. At move-out, B claims a $1,850 refund of a deposit you no longer hold.
• Called it an assignment, signed it as a new lease: B signs a fresh 6-month lease on your template and A signs nothing. That’s a new tenancy with B, and A’s status is unclear: no release, but no assignment either. Pick a path from the decision table and paper that one.

1. Get the request in writing with the newcomer’s name, the dates, and whether the tenant is coming back. Log it (communication logs).
2. Name the path using the terminology table: sublease, assignment, roommate swap, new lease, buyout, or refuse. Vendor “sublet” wording doesn’t decide it.
3. Read your clause (consent required? reasonableness standard? fees? short-term-rental ban?) and your state and city rules on refusing consent. In Colorado, assume a reasonable-refusal standard unless counsel says otherwise.
4. Screen the newcomer with your normal written criteria. Ask for Nolo’s list: application, income proof, credit, references, dates (applications, screening costs). Check fee and portable-report rules before you charge anything.
5. Decide in writing whether the original tenant is released. The default for both a sublease and an assignment is no.
6. Sign the paper before anyone moves in: consent letter (sublease) or assignment & assumption signed by all three (assignment). Use RR Signature Request, a TT addendum plus your attachment, or an Avail amendment (lease & e-sign).
7. Pick the deposit model and write it into the paper (see the deposit section above).
8. Sublease ledger: change nothing. Don’t add the subtenant to charges, and don’t bill them a deposit. In RR you may record them as Not on Lease.
9. Assignment ledger, before the next rent posts: assignee on the charges, assignor off. RR Edit Lease + deselect. TT Replace, then review the rules. Avail new lease with no duplicate deposit invoice.
10. Autopay: the assignee enrolls before the first due date, and the assignor cancels theirs (RR/TT tenant-controlled, Avail via Customer Care). In a sublease the master tenant’s autopay stays on (late fees & autopay).
11. Side charges: move pet rent, utilities, and parking to the assignee, or leave them with the master tenant in a sublease (pet rent, utility billing).
12. Mid-month date? Prorate by agreement (prorated rent).
13. Condition photos on the handover date (condition reports).
14. File everything: request, screening, consent or assignment, deposit election, and the original tenant’s forwarding contact (document vault). Update your rent roll.
15. Sublease end date: confirm the master tenant is back (or that the lease is ending), and unlink or remove any subtenant record.

Do I have to let my tenant sublet?

It depends on your lease and your state and city. Nolo says many states let you refuse when the lease requires consent without a reasonableness standard, while New York (4+ unit buildings), rent-control cities, and states like California and Florida limit refusals. TurboTenant’s guide claims “most states do not allow landlords to deny” subleasing, which conflicts with Nolo. Colorado appellate cases point toward a reasonableness requirement unless the lease has a freely negotiated absolute clause.

What’s the practical difference between a sublease and an assignment in the app?

Who sits on the rent charge. Sublease: the original tenant stays on it and the subtenant doesn’t. Assignment: the assignee goes on and the original tenant comes off, but stays liable unless released.

Can the subtenant just pay me through the portal?

Vendor guides suggest it (TT, Avail), and the tools will usually let any listed tenant pay. Justia warns that taking rent directly from a subtenant can give them “a strong argument” they’re your tenant. If you allow it anyway, have counsel word your consent so payments don’t create a tenancy or release anyone. Whether that works is a state-law question.

Does TurboTenant’s Tenant Change Addendum handle an assignment?

It handles the records: Replace swaps the tenant on the profile and removes the departing tenant’s Autopay. It doesn’t require the departing tenant’s signature, it doesn’t update charges or rules, and TT says removal “doesn’t necessarily release them.” Get a signed assignment from the assignor too.

Can I charge a fee for processing a sublet or assignment?

Check your lease and state. We found no Colorado statute setting such a fee. But Colorado’s application-fee law (38-12-903) limits fees charged to a prospective tenant to cost, and its definition includes nonrefundable pre-tenancy fees, which may catch a flat assignment fee charged to the incoming person. Never post it as Rent.

What happens to the deposit?

Sublease: you keep the original tenant’s deposit, and any deposit the subtenant pays goes to the master tenant (in Colorado, as a “sublessor,” they take on landlord deposit duties). Assignment: either the claim transfers to the assignee in writing, or you refund and recollect. Never both.

My tenant is on Airbnb without asking. Is that a sublet?

Nolo says listing on short-term platforms “almost always violates lease prohibitions against unauthorized subletting.” Get written confirmation, send a notice that follows your state’s rules, and talk to counsel before treating it as eviction grounds. Local short-term-rental rules may apply on top.

• Assignments with built-in paper: TurboTenant Essentials/Pro. The Replace addendum plus attached original lease is the most complete flow, but add your own assignor-signed assignment and rebuild the payment rule and Autopay.
• Subleases you want on record without billing: RentRedi. Screen and keep the subtenant as Not on Lease, and use Signature Request for your consent letter.
• Free-first: Avail. The lease template has a sublease clause, the amendment is free (offline signatures), and a new lease gives a replacement a clean ledger. Paper the release or assignment separately and kill the duplicate deposit invoice.
• Any tool: none of them tracks “still liable after assignment,” deposit ownership between tenants, or whether consent was reasonable. Those live in your paper and your counsel’s advice.

• Terminology conflict: TurboTenant and Avail both define “subletting” as the replacement signing a new lease with the landlord. Nolo treats sublets and subleases as the same thing. The legal term for a replacement taking over the existing lease is assignment (Justia, Boulder). We used the legal terms.
• Liability conflict: Avail’s Jun 2026 break-lease guide says a sublease or assignment “can reduce or eliminate your ongoing financial responsibility.” Nolo says a sublease leaves the master tenant fully responsible, and Justia says an assignor stays liable unless released. An older UC Denver handbook says assignment releases the tenant, while the current Boulder handbook says the tenant “may retain other obligations unless fully released.”
• Paying the landlord directly: TT’s and Avail’s guides suggest the subtenant pay the landlord online. Justia flags that as the main way a subtenant becomes a tenant. Avail doesn’t say how a non-signer would pay an Avail invoice.
• TurboTenant: the clause wording comes from a Jan 2024 sample PDF marked “DRAFT … for review only,” and today’s builder may differ. The addendum article is indexed under two titles. The pricing table shows the Forms Pack “Included” on Essentials and Pro, while help says “$199, or … our Premium Plan.” Screening shows $55 on Free and $45 for Pro, and we didn’t see a figure labeled Essentials.
• RentRedi: we couldn’t confirm what portal access a “Not on Lease” person gets, or whether Unlink cancels an active AutoPay schedule. The blog’s “Subletting transfers your obligations to your sublessor” is loose wording. Treat it as marketing, not law.
• Avail: the legacy “Sublease an Apartment” support article didn’t render. We didn’t see the template’s sublease clause text. Replace-tenant behavior comes from 2023 community posts, not Avail documentation.
• Colorado: the consent-reasonableness rule rests on Court of Appeals decisions (mobile-home and commercial leases). The Supreme Court reversed Basnett without reaching the rule. Applying “sublessor = landlord” definitions to master tenants is our reading of the statute text. So is the idea that an assignment fee is an application fee under 38-12-903. We didn’t verify how HB 24-1098 treats unauthorized subletting.