Leaving SW Queens Mezzanine: Assignment or Sublet?

Step 1 · Permission

Ask your property team for the available exit terms.

Use the representative on your current tenancy notices. For routing, the official contact page lists 718-326-5600. Include the apartment, leaseholders, current lease end, and desired departure.

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

Step 2 · Written terms

Set the offer and the requirements for this household.

• Rent and dates: approved price, remaining term or new lease, concessions, charges, and start conditions.
• Qualification: applicant criteria, required guarantor threshold, coverage, and accepted alternatives.
• Application: current checklist, secure submission route, supporting-record deadline, and reviewer.
• Release: final rent, costs, security, and when each departing tenant’s and guarantor’s obligations end.

Confirm the unit’s status from the lease and riders, including any rent-regulation or admission requirements that affect the proposed replacement.

Assignment or sublet?

Choose the agreement for a permanent move or temporary absence.

Assignment and subletting follow different New York consent rules. Rent-regulated and admission-restricted apartments can have additional rules or exclusions. Confirm the procedure for your actual unit before offering either route.

Step 3 · Qualification

Confirm where the household falls within the published guarantor range.

The linked packet uses 40 times monthly rent for applicant income and 80–100 times for guarantors, with up to two guarantors. Ask which level applies, whether incomes can be combined, and what each guarantee must cover.

Confirm accepted income records, lawful alternatives, and any program criteria. Check the candidate’s dates, intended term, occupants, pets, guarantor needs, and document readiness before starting the file.

Step 4 · Application

Prepare the category-specific records and confirm the submission deadline.

Start with the official downloads page and have management confirm the current package for your apartment. The linked Rev.5-26 checklist separates employed, self-employed, student, and guarantor records.

• Employed: an employer letter dated within two months, two pay stubs, current checking and savings statements, three months of rent history, and ID.
• Self-employed: IRS personal tax transcripts for the latest two years, current bank records, rent history, and ID.
• Students: enrollment evidence, bank records, six months of rent history, ID, and a guarantor.
• Submission: confirm accepted alternatives, missing items, completeness, and the remaining decisions and signing steps.

Have candidates submit sensitive records directly through the designated channel. Ask how the two-day supporting-record instruction applies and who coordinates any landlord verification.

Step 5 · Find the replacement

Advertise the approved offer and actual apartment condition.

Get permission to list and show the unit. Use approved rent, dates, concessions, charges, applicant requirements, and actual-unit photos. Confirm any renewal wording before publishing it.

• 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.
• Parking: confirm its availability, separate agreement, and charges where relevant.

Keep possession conditional on approvals, signing, required payments, and readiness. Get approval before changing price, dates, or term.

Fees and security

Request the exit quote separately from the ordinary application.

The downloads page states that no application fee is required. Ask for an itemized assignment or termination proposal showing the purpose, payee, due date, and refund conditions for any proposed charge.

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

Ask what changes if the candidate withdraws or the incoming start moves. For covered screening, New York law limits reimbursement to actual cost or $20, whichever is less, with report, receipt, and recent-report waiver requirements.

Approval and handoff

Finish the outgoing release and building handoff on the agreed dates.

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

• Check the executed agreement for every departing tenant and guarantor.
• Photograph the condition and finish agreed clearing or repairs.
• Arrange move access, 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 signing 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.