I’m Ending My Lease Early and Found the Landlord a New Tenant. Can He Refuse?

Q: I’m moving out of my rent-stabilized apartment in Brooklyn and I provided my landlord with a suitable replacement, a friend of a friend who needs a new place after ending a relationship. When I told my landlord that I needed to end my lease early and that I had a replacement for him, he responded that it would be fine as long as she worked with his broker. His broker is charging a large fee and asking for a guarantor that makes 80 times the rent. Is 80 times the rent typical? And why would she have to pay a broker’s fee here?

A: Local housing laws favor tenant protection, so landlords want to be sure that any new renter will meet their obligations under the lease. It’s possible that the person you found to take over your lease does not meet your landlord’s financial requirements, which is why he is insisting she find a guarantor who makes 80 times the rent. That threshold may sound high, but it is typical, ensuring that the guarantor could comfortably cover the rent.

A broker would normally prepare the new lease and determine whether the tenant meets the requirements, said Melissa Alonso, a licensed agent with Nest Seekers International who has worked on lease assignments. In this situation, since the broker didn’t have to advertise the apartment, your friend could try to negotiate a lower fee. But the broker is still performing a service.

“The tenant who is leaving could consider paying that fee so that the replacement tenant doesn’t have to pay,” Ms. Alonso said.

Your request to transfer your lease to another person is perfectly legal, said Ami Shah, deputy director of the citywide housing practice at Legal Services NYC. But the law also says that you need the landlord’s written consent to actually reassign the lease. If the landlord reasonably withholds that consent, you cannot break the lease. In this case, since you found a new tenant, and assuming she’s financially solid, demanding the broker’s fee could constitute an unreasonable refusal. You can send the landlord a certified letter advising him that based on the unreasonable refusal, you want the lease to be terminated within 30 days of notice. But the question of what’s reasonable will ultimately be decided in housing court, Ms. Shah said.

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