Breaking a LeFrak City Lease: Assignment or Sublet?

Step 1 · Permission

Ask for the person handling lease changes in your building.

Start with your current tenancy contact. If you need routing, call 888-813-2903 or use the official contact page. Give the full Queens building address and unit and ask who handles early departures and owner consent.

Say whether everyone is leaving, one roommate is changing, or you plan to return. Save the reply and follow the formal notice method in your lease separately.

Step 2 · Written terms

Confirm the incoming offer and your outgoing obligations.

• Rent and dates: approved rent, start date, remaining or new lease term, and any concession.
• Monthly cost: what the quoted total includes, plus variable charges and optional services.
• Application: current criteria, housing-program requirements, checklist, and submission channel.
• Your exit: itemized charges, security instructions, required signatures, and release date.

For a roommate change, identify who stays liable and who needs a release. Ask whether the remaining household must requalify and how any existing guaranty is handled.

Step 3 · Choose the route

Match the agreement to a permanent or temporary move.

Confirm whether the incoming renter receives your remaining term or a new lease at a different price. For a temporary absence, explain the return plan and ask for the applicable sublet procedure.

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 process. Regulated and special-program apartments can have additional rules; confirm the applicable route for your unit.

Step 4 · Applicant requirements

Get the criteria for your apartment before selecting someone.

Ask which rent figure is used for qualification, how income is calculated, which financial records are accepted, and what credit review applies. Confirm available personal or third-party guarantor arrangements before a prospect buys coverage.

Flag self-employment, variable earnings, a new job, assets, or rental assistance early so the renter can prepare the correct documents. If some tenants stay, ask what the remaining household must submit.

Establish the apartment’s housing program from the lease and riders and get any eligibility or compliance instructions before advertising it as available to a private replacement.

Step 5 · Apply

Get a separate application for the incoming household.

Have management send the current application and checklist tied to your unit and approved offer. Give the renter the same rent, dates, and term with those instructions.

• Confirm which applicants, remaining tenants, and guarantors must submit.
• Prepare the identity, income, financial, reference, and program records requested.
• Use the authorized channel for sensitive documents.
• Confirm receipt, missing items, the decision contact, and the signing steps.

The resident page provides payment and maintenance services. Ask how the new household will establish its own access after the tenancy documents take effect; do not share your existing login.

Step 6 · Find the replacement

Advertise your actual apartment and the complete offer.

Once authorized, use current photos of the unit, its actual layout and condition, the approved start date, and the lease length. Clarify furniture and whether the offer is for the whole apartment or a roommate change.

Agree on occupied showing times, attendance, access, and the candidate-referral route. Document any incentive you fund separately from recurring rent, and have management confirm any renewal offer or concession before including it.

Keep the listing consistent with the approved application. Do not use another unit’s finishes, price, or term as a promise about yours. Get approval before changing the advertised offer.

Step 7 · Money

Separate the monthly quote from extra costs and your exit settlement.

The availability disclosure distinguishes these cost categories. Ask for the current unit-specific breakdown:

Get your own exit quote separately: final rent, any proposed transfer or surrender charge, concession treatment, moving, and security accounting. Ask what each charge covers, where it is authorized, and what changes if the incoming start date moves.

For covered 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, with a waiver for a qualifying report from the past 30 days.

Confirm your deposit accounting and the incoming security separately. Do not assume security pays final rent. Agree separately on any brokerage service or incentive you fund.

Step 8 · Finish the transfer

Confirm the signed release and reconcile the service accounts.

Check every departing tenant and guarantor, the effective date, required signatures and funds, and possession conditions before handing over keys.

Arrange the move reservation, mover insurance, inspection, and key or fob return. Photograph condition, align utilities and services, provide a forwarding address, and retain the executed documents and final ledger.

Ask how scheduled payments or credits overlapping the handoff should be handled. Update autopay according to the settled account instructions; closing a service account does not establish lease cancellation.

Track permission, the complete application, review, signatures, funds, and the move separately. If a stage slips, get revised rent and release terms in writing before changing your move.

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.