Tenant Sublet Without Permission in Newfoundland and Labrador

Every tenancy in the province carries a set of statutory conditions. Condition 3 covers assigning and subletting: the tenant may do either, subject to your written consent. You cannot arbitrarily or unreasonably withhold that consent, and you cannot charge more than the expenses you actually incurred in giving it. The rule is in section 10(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2018 (SNL2018 c R-14.2). Section 10(2) says a written rental agreement must repeat the statutory conditions without change, so the Standard Rental Agreement carries this condition too.

In plain terms: the tenant must ask, you answer in writing, and a refusal needs a real reason. A tenant who sublets without your written consent has skipped the first step. That does not automatically tell you what to do next, and the second half of this guide is honest about that gap.

The Residential Tenancies Office policy on subletting and assigning (Policy 02-001) adds two points. You cannot refuse a sublet or assignment without a good reason, and you cannot add terms to the sublet or assignment that did not apply to the original tenant. The policy also says tenants in government-subsidized housing have no right to sublet or assign.

The policy gives one example of an acceptable reason to refuse: a reference check on the proposed sub-tenant or assignee that raises concerns about their ability to pay. The sources reviewed do not give a full list of acceptable or unacceptable reasons, so treat that example as an example only. If the reason would not hold up when explained to a neutral person, think again before refusing.

What you can charge is tied to your own cost. The Act allows only the expenses you actually incurred in giving consent. If you check references and pay for it, that cost is the kind of expense the condition points at. A flat "sublet fee" above your real cost is not allowed. Keep the receipt.

You also cannot load the new arrangement with terms the original tenant never had. If the original lease allows pets or parking in a certain way, you cannot make the sub-tenant sign something stricter as the price of your consent.

• Reply in writing, so there is a record of the date and the reason.
• If you refuse, state the specific concern.
• If you consent, record the charge you made and what it covered.

The two are different, and the province's Guide for Landlords and Tenants explains how. On a sublet, the original tenant remains the tenant. The Guide says there is no contractual relationship between you and the sub-tenant, and that the sublease cannot contradict the original rental agreement. On an assignment, the original tenant is released from the rental agreement and the new person steps in.

This matters when you decide how to respond. If a tenant is subletting, you still look to your original tenant for the rent and the condition of the unit. If the tenant is assigning, your relationship moves to the new person, which is another reason to check references before you consent.

The sources reviewed do not say what an unauthorised sublet does to the security deposit, to rent owed, or to your right to claim directly from the sub-tenant. They do not say, so this guide does not guess. For those questions, ask the Residential Tenancies Office.

Start by finding out what is actually happening. Is someone living in the unit under a sublet or assignment, or is it a guest or a new roommate? The sources reviewed contain no rule on a landlord's consent to adding an occupant or roommate who is not a sub-tenant, so do not assume the sublet rules decide that case.

If it is a sublet or assignment without your written consent, here is the route the Act gives you, in order:

1. Tell the tenant in writing what you found and ask for the sublet to be stopped or for a proper request for consent. Ask yourself whether you had a good reason to refuse; if not, asking the tenant to make a proper request may be the simplest fix.
2. If you treat the matter as a breach of a material term, give the tenant written notice of the breach under section 20(2) and allow a reasonable time to fix it.
3. If the tenant does not fix it within that time, you may give notice that the rental agreement is terminated and the tenant must vacate. Under section 20(3) and (4) the notice must be signed, given not later than the first day of a rental period, and name a termination date that is the last day of a rental period. It must be given not less than one month before the end of that period for month-to-month and fixed-term tenancies, or not less than 7 days for week-to-week.
4. Use the Landlord's Notice to Terminate Early (Cause), form RT-2018-00040, available from the Residential Tenancies Office forms page. The form title lists sections 19, 20, 21, 22 and 24.

Notices must be in writing in the prescribed form, name the person receiving them and give that person's address, identify the premises and state the section of the Act relied on (sections 34 and 35). Registered mail or express post is treated as served on the 5th day after mailing. Electronic service works only if the tenant has given an electronic address for receiving documents. Sent by 4 p.m. it is treated as served that day; sent after 4 p.m., it is served the next day that is not a Saturday or holiday (section 35).

Here is the gap. No Act section, policy or guide page that was reviewed says an unauthorised sublet or assignment is itself a breach of a "material term". Whether it counts is an inference, not a stated rule, and the director who decides an application would decide it on the facts. So the s.20(2) route is the general breach route, not a sublet-specific one.

There is also no official form made for an unauthorised sublet. The forms above are general forms. If you serve a notice that turns out not to fit, you may lose time. That is the practical reason to ask the Residential Tenancies Office before you serve it.

If the tenancy ends and you have a claim, you may apply to the director for dispute resolution under section 42 within one year after the rental agreement ends. The form is the Application for Dispute Resolution, RT-2018-00053 (form). The director may order compliance, compensation, or that the tenant vacate (section 47(1)). The sources reviewed do not describe how such an application would be decided for a sublet.

Most sublet disputes start with an informal yes. The condition asks for written consent, so give it in a clear written message or signed document that identifies the sub-tenant, not a casual verbal yes. When a tenant raises a sublet, ask for the proposed person's name and contact details, check references promptly, and answer in writing. Record any expense you incurred and keep the receipt.

Compare this guide with the tenant side in Newfoundland breaking a lease and subletting, and read how a landlord ends a tenancy in Newfoundland and Labrador for notice basics. The forms and required wording guide covers what a valid notice contains. Questions about someone moving in without a sublet are covered more generally on the page can my tenant move someone in, though that page is not specific to this province.

Where the written lease and the Act appear to differ, the Act's statutory conditions are part of every tenancy, and section 10(2) says a written agreement must reproduce them unchanged. If your lease says something stricter about subletting than condition 3, ask the Residential Tenancies Office which governs. This guide explains the rules in general terms; for a specific case, ask the tribunal or a licensed legal professional.