What is a sublease?

A sublease is a situation where a lessee (the person who has a lease with the owner) decides to rent all or part of the leased property to someone else. In other words, subletting occurs when the original tenant, who is the primary tenant, becomes the landlord for someone else, known as a subtenant.

In a sublease, the main lessee is responsible to the original owner for the performance of the obligations set forth in the original lease. However, the sublessee has a contractual relationship with the main lessee, and not directly with the owner.

Related concepts

• Industry lease contract
• What is the difference between lease and sale?
• Property