A lease is assigned when a tenant permanently leaves a dwelling during the course of the lease. You give up all your rights as a tenant and the landlord has no further recourse against you.

Subletting, however, can be a temporary arrangement. By subletting your apartment, you preserve your right of occupancy. When the term of the sublet is up, you have the option of returning to your dwelling. However, when you sublet, you also assume certain responsibilities.

When a lease is assigned, three parties are involved:

• the assignor: the tenant assigning her lease;
  
• the assignee: the party taking over the lease;
  
• the landlord: the owner of the dwelling.

The following parties are involved in subletting:

• the sublessor: the party subletting the dwelling;
  
• the subtenant: the party to whom the dwelling is sublet;
  
• the landlord: the owner of the dwelling.

When a lease is assigned, the person taking over the lease (called the assignee) assumes all the rights and responsibilities of a tenant toward the landlord.

As a tenant who has assigned her lease, you have no further rights or responsibilities toward your former landlord.

When you sublet a dwelling, the person to whom you sublet has all the rights of a tenant, except the right of occupancy (which means that you can return to the dwelling at the end of the sublease).

As a sublessor, you will still be responsible for the lease and will be considered a tenant with all the accompanying rights and obligations. If the subtenant fails to pay you the rent, you remain responsible to the landlord for it. When you sublet your apartment, you also assume the responsibilities of a landlord toward the subtenant. This means that you are responsible for the dwelling both as a tenant and as a sublessor, because you must assume the obligations of both.

If, for example, the lease you sign with the subtenant states that the dwelling includes washer/dryer hook-ups when in fact it does not, you will be responsible for installing the hook-ups and for all the costs involved. This is not the landlord’s responsibility because it is not his legal obligation; it is an obligation resulting from an agreement between the sublessor and the subtenant.

No. The Civil Code of Québec outlines three situations in which you cannot assign your lease or sublet:

• if you are a student renting a dwelling in an educational institution;
  
• if you are a tenant in low-rental housing;
  
• if your dwelling is the principal family residence;
  e.g., the place where your family carries on its daily activities. For more information, please see our Infosheet entitled The special status of the family residence.

In the last case, you may sublet or assign your lease provided that your spouse gives written consent to do so.

If you are in a situation that allows you to assign your lease or sublet your dwelling (see the previous question), you must send your landlord a notice of assignment or sublet, once you have found a prospective tenant.

This notice must include the name and address of the prospective tenant and the projected date for the assignment or sublet. You must send this notice to the landlord’s address as it appears on your lease and it must be written in the same language as the lease.

The landlord has 15 days from the day he receives your notice to respond. He cannot refuse the assignment or sublet without a serious reason (inability to pay, problematic behavior, etc), even if a clause in your lease says otherwise. If the landlord forgets or does not respond to your notice within the 15-day period, he is deemed to have accepted.

If you do not give your notice in accordance with these stipulations, it is not opposable to the landlord. This means that it will not have any legal value unless you can prove to the Régie du logement that the landlord did not suffer any serious prejudice due to the fact that the notice did not conform to the law.

You can obtain a model for this notice on the Régie du logement website, or by visiting their offices.

You can ask the Régie du logement to force your landlord to accept the lease assignment or sublet if he has no good reason for refusing.

Keep in mind, though, that there is no point in lodging a complaint with the Régie if the law expressly prohibits you from assigning your lease or subletting. Again, these instances are as follows:

• you are a student renting a dwelling in an educational institution;
  
• you are a tenant in low-rental housing;
  
• your dwelling is your principal family residence and you do not have written consent from your spouse to assign or sublet it.

For more information on proceedings before the Régie du logement, please see our Infosheet entitled Hearings before the Régie du logement.

Under the Civil Code of Québec, subtenants do not have the right to maintain occupancy. That means that when the lease is up, you will have the option to return to your dwelling.

However, if you, the sublessor, or the landlord fails to provide ten (10) days notice to vacate the dwelling, the subtenant may stay in the dwelling and strike a new lease with the landlord.

A sublessor has several obligations toward his subtenant. As with any lessor, you must deliver the dwelling in good and clean condition. You must also ensure the peaceful enjoyment of the dwelling.

For example, your subtenant can force you to repair a rotten and potentially dangerous banister in the stairway. Your obligation as sublessor is to carry out all necessary repairs to the dwelling within the duration of the lease, so it’s up to you to ensure that your landlord respects her obligations to you.

Yes. Your landlord can seek the cancellation of your sublet if the subtenant caused serious harm to himself or the occupants of the building. For example, if the subtenant pays the rent late, causes so much noise that other tenants complain, etc.

A landlord who has endured serious damage as a result of a subtenant’s actions can request not only the cancellation of the lease, but also compensation for damages caused.