Breaking a Jack Resnick Lease: Assignment or Sublet?

Step 1 · Permission

Reach the team handling your apartment’s lease changes.

Give your address and unit and ask who handles owner consent, the incoming application, and outgoing-tenant releases.

Say whether everyone is leaving, one roommate is changing, or the absence is temporary. Save the reply and follow your lease’s formal notice instructions separately.

Step 2 · Written terms

Get one approved offer you can give the incoming renter.

• Rent and dates: approved rent, start date, remaining or new lease term, and any concession.
• Application: current criteria, guarantor options, checklist, and link for your unit.
• Costs: required charges, optional services, security, and an itemized exit quote.
• Release: the agreement, signatures, funds, and effective date ending your obligations.

For a roommate change, specify who remains liable and who must be released. Confirm how a later incoming start affects your final rent.

Step 3 · Choose the route

Confirm a remaining-term assignment or a new lease.

Symphony House’s ordinary vacancy listings describe a minimum 12-month lease. Ask for a separate answer about your proposed assignment before advertising a shorter remaining term or promising a renewal.

New York Real Property Law § 226-b generally requires written owner consent for assignment. Covered apartments in buildings with four or more residential units have a separate sublet procedure. Regulated and special-program apartments can have additional rules; confirm the applicable route for your unit.

Step 4 · Applicant requirements

Use the building’s criteria before selecting a renter.

Ask how income is calculated, which evidence is accepted, what credit review applies, and which personal or third-party guarantor arrangements are available for the transaction. Resolve alternatives for self-employment, variable earnings, a new job, or rental assistance.

If some tenants stay, ask whether the remaining household must requalify and how the guaranty changes. Confirm any housing-program eligibility restrictions for the apartment.

Before a prospect buys a guaranty product, have the building confirm the accepted product and application sequence. A fee disclosure alone does not establish approval for that candidate.

Step 5 · Apply

Have the building issue the correct On-Site route.

The official building pages link to On-Site. Ask for the current invitation or application instructions tied to your unit and approved offer, including which adults and guarantors must submit.

• Match the rent, dates, term, and household to the written offer.
• Prepare the identity, income, financial, and reference documents management requests.
• Use the designated channel for sensitive records.
• Confirm receipt, missing items, the decision contact, and the next signing step.

Do not start an application for another vacancy simply to begin screening. Confirm that the selected renter is being reviewed for your actual transaction.

Step 6 · Find the replacement

Use authorized photos and accurate terms for the actual unit.

The company’s residential advertisements say they should not be republished, and note that photos can represent an apartment line or finish rather than the exact unit. Agree on the listing route and use your own authorized photos or material management permits.

State the approved rent, recurring charges, available date, lease length, condition, and furniture. Arrange occupied showing access and put any incentive you fund in writing.

Do not promise that your amenity access carries over. Have the incoming renter confirm their own membership options. Keep optional services separate from rent and any concession.

Step 7 · Money

Separate memberships and screening from your exit settlement.

Current public disclosures list these optional amenity choices. Confirm availability, eligibility, cancellation, and refund terms before committing:

These are separate from any transfer or surrender charge. Request final rent, proposed transaction expenses, concession treatment, moving, and security as an itemized exit quote.

The vacancy disclosures list $20 screening charges. For covered applications, § 238-a limits background and credit checks to actual cost or $20, whichever is less, requires a report copy and receipt or invoice, and provides a waiver for a qualifying report from the past 30 days.

Confirm your deposit accounting and the incoming security separately. Under § 7-108, covered deposits or advances generally cannot exceed one month’s rent, subject to statutory exceptions. Ask what any proposed adjustment means before paying.

Step 8 · Finish the transfer

Align the incoming agreement with the end of your tenancy.

Check the signed documents for the apartment, every departing tenant and guarantor, effective date, payments, and possession conditions. Confirm that required signatures and funds are complete before handing over keys.

Arrange move reservations, mover insurance, elevator access, inspection, keys, and service cancellations. Photograph condition, align utilities, provide a forwarding address, and keep the executed agreement and final account.

Track permission, the complete application, review, signatures, payments, and the move separately. Get revised dates and rent responsibility in writing if the renter withdraws or signing slips.

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.