Breaking a Goose Property Management Lease: Assignment or Sublet?

Step 1 · Permission

Ask Goose leasing how your departure will be handled.

Call 718-246-3734 or email info@goosepm.com and ask for the leasing contact handling your unit. Say whether everyone is leaving, one roommate is changing, or you intend to return after a temporary absence.

Save the reply. If the lease requires formal notice, confirm the recipient, delivery method, and address separately; a phone call does not replace that notice.

Step 2 · Written terms

Get the offer clear before you find a renter.

• Rent and dates: the incoming rent, start date, remaining term or new term, and any concession.
• Application: the current checklist, screening contact, and accepted guarantor arrangements.
• Costs: an itemized quote, who pays each amount, and how security will be handled.
• Release: the documents and conditions ending your obligations, including any guaranty.

If one person is staying, ask whether Goose needs a roommate amendment, a new lease, or another agreement. Identify exactly who stays liable after it takes effect.

Step 3 · Choose the route

Match the paperwork to a permanent or temporary move.

New York Real Property Law § 226-b generally requires written owner consent for assignment. It provides a separate sublet process for covered apartments in buildings with four or more residential units. Regulated and special-program apartments can have additional rules; an unanswered informal email is not permission to transfer the lease.

Step 4 · Applicant requirements

Check that the renter fits the application requirements.

Ask leasing how it calculates income, which financial records it accepts, and whether a personal or third-party guarantor is allowed. Get the answer before a prospect spends money or plans a move.

Goose’s FAQ distinguishes guest access from occupant status. For a replacement, ask which lease document the person will sign and what happens to your obligations. A portal update or an extra fob does not answer either question.

For an affordable or otherwise restricted apartment, ask which eligibility review applies to this change before advertising it.

Step 5 · Apply

Send the renter through the current leasing process.

Have leasing issue the actual application link. Goose’s public unit-availability form is an inquiry route; completing it does not establish application approval.

• Have each proposed tenant and guarantor complete the requested forms.
• Prepare ID, income evidence, and supporting financial records according to the current checklist.
• Submit sensitive documents through the channel leasing specifies.
• Confirm receipt, missing items, the decision contact, and the next signing step.

Keep access for showings separate from application approval. Do not share your resident login with a prospect.

Step 6 · Find the replacement

Advertise your actual apartment and the approved terms.

Once Goose authorizes marketing, use current photos, the approved rent, available date, lease length, and accurate room dimensions. Explain whether furniture is included and whether the transaction covers the whole apartment or a roommate change.

Arrange occupied showings with the household and building team. Give prospects the current screening requirements and disclose any contribution you offer toward rent or moving costs.

Avoid the common delay: finding someone for different rent or dates, then asking leasing to change the offer. Set the terms first and send the applicant the same terms you advertised.

Step 7 · Money

Separate the exit quote from the incoming renter’s costs.

Ask for a written breakdown of final rent, any proposed transfer or surrender charge, security, move costs, and optional services. If a charge is unclear, ask what it covers and where it is authorized before agreeing to pay it.

For covered rental applications, § 238-a caps background and credit checks at actual cost or $20, whichever is less. It requires a report copy and receipt or invoice, and a fee waiver for a qualifying report from the past 30 days.

Get separate instructions for your deposit and the incoming tenant’s deposit. Do not privately promise that your security will transfer to the replacement or count as your final rent.

Step 8 · Finish the transfer

Confirm the release before handing over possession.

Check the signed documents for the effective date and every departing tenant and guarantor. Confirm that required signatures, funds, and move conditions are complete before the new renter receives keys.

Goose’s FAQ directs residents to obtain a building-specific sample COI for movers or contractors. Send that sample to your mover and confirm insurance acceptance, reservation, elevator access, and key or fob return. Photograph the apartment’s condition and retain the final account statement.

Work backward from the proposed move: permission, application, approval, signatures, payments, then possession. If any step slips, get the revised date and rent responsibility in writing.

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.