Breaking a Centennial Properties NY Lease: Assignment or Sublet?

Step 1 · Permission

Ask your property team for the apartment’s exit options.

Use your current tenancy contact. For routing, the official contact page lists 212-228-9300. Include the apartment, leaseholders, current lease end, and preferred departure.

Say whether everyone leaves, one roommate changes, or you intend to return. Follow your lease’s notice method and ask who coordinates owner consent, incoming review, the account, and release.

Step 2 · Written terms

Get the offer, application steps, and outgoing release together.

• Rent and dates: approved price, remaining term or new lease, concessions, charges, and start conditions.
• Application: current criteria, separate tenant and guarantor checklists, submission link, and review contact.
• Payments: amount, purpose, payee, due event, and refund conditions for each requested sum.
• Release: final rent, security, and when each departing tenant’s and guarantor’s obligations end.

For a co-op or individual-owner rental, identify any separate building review and who coordinates it with your landlord’s consent.

Assignment or sublet?

Choose the route for a permanent move or temporary absence.

Assignment and subletting follow different New York consent rules. Proprietary co-op leases are excluded from that statute’s general framework; regulated and admission-restricted rentals may have additional rules. Confirm what applies to your documents.

Step 3 · Qualification

Assess tenant income and guarantor income as separate groups.

The ordinary application page uses 40 times monthly rent for combined tenant annual income and 60 times for combined guarantor income. It says the groups cannot be pooled together and assets are not counted in that assessment.

The page requires U.S.-resident personal guarantors and limits their number to the tenant count. Ask which current routes and lawful alternatives apply. If the applicant has a new job, clarify the page’s six-month employment wording before starting the file.

Check dates, intended term, occupants, pets, guarantor needs, and document readiness. Confirm any housing-program requirements for the actual unit.

Step 4 · Application

Prepare the current checklists and clarify each deadline.

Use the link issued for your apartment and approved agreement. The Apply page has separate applicant and guarantor lists; confirm the current versions and accepted alternatives.

• Applicants: prepare requested tax or W-2 records, employment evidence, three pay stubs, housing history, a checking statement, photo ID, and applicable student records.
• Guarantors: confirm tax, income, ID, and guaranty-signing requirements.
• Submission: send sensitive records through the designated channel and confirm missing items and completeness.
• Timing: ask what starts each deadline, what is due, and which decisions and signatures remain.

Before paying, get the purpose, payee, lawful payment stage, and refund or cancellation terms in writing. Keep applicant approval coordinated with your outgoing agreement.

Step 5 · Find the replacement

Advertise the approved terms and arrange occupied access.

Get permission to list and show the unit. Use approved rent, dates, concessions, recurring charges, applicant requirements, and photos of the actual apartment.

• Access: agree on showing notice, hours, attendance, and keys.
• Condition: settle clearing, cleaning, repairs, and furniture staying.
• Incentives: document any outgoing payment separately from owner rent.
• Changes: get approval before revising price, dates, or renewal wording.

Keep possession conditional on approvals, signing, required payments, and readiness. Confirm the scope and fee for any brokerage work in writing before marketing.

Fees and security

Separate screening charges from the complete exit cost.

The application page lists $20 per applicant and U.S. guarantor. Ask separately for an itemized assignment or termination proposal and what is payable if the candidate withdraws or signing is delayed.

• Final rent: your last day charged and any agreed proration.
• Security: outgoing refund or credit, incoming deposit, and deductions.
• Account: credits, refunds, and the final balance.
• Services: moving costs and permitted brokerage work agreed in writing.

For covered screening, New York law limits reimbursement to actual cost or $20, whichever is less, with report, receipt, and recent-report waiver requirements. Confirm lawful current payment instructions.

Approval and handoff

Finish the outgoing release and final account before possession changes.

Coordinate candidate review, required approvals, signatures, payments, readiness, and the move. Ask management to confirm that the conditions for releasing you have been met.

• Check the executed agreement for each departing tenant and guarantor.
• Photograph the condition and finish agreed clearing or repairs.
• Arrange move reservations, required insurance documents, keys, fobs, and utilities.
• Provide forwarding details and retain the final ledger and security accounting.

Keep the signed agreements, receipts, and completion confirmation. Update the written plan if execution or possession changes before handing over keys.

Find a replacement renter

I can help turn management’s terms into a listing and a qualified applicant.

I prepare the listing, manage inquiries and showings, screen prospective renters, and help the selected applicant complete management’s requirements. Management makes the approval decision. My role and broker fee are agreed in writing before marketing starts.

Send the address, rent, lease end date, preferred move date, and management’s reply.

Discuss my lease

For the broader legal options, see the NYC lease-break guide.