DeKALB | Even when a good lease is hard to find, there is another housing option to consider: Some tenants may be willing to sublease their apartments.

Looking for subleasing options shares the same process as looking for leasing options. A notable difference between the two is that those who sublease pay rent to the tenant of the apartment, who then pays rent to the landlord.

According to the DeKalb Tenant’s Handbook, tenants have the right to sublease, and “the landlord can reject a prospective sublessee only for good commercial reason or in accordance with a standard screening process.”

“I never recommend subleasing,” said Susan Besinger, president of Horizon Real Estate Management. “You’re on the hook for them. You don’t know that person, you don’t have a relationship with that person. It’s not a very safe position to be in, so it’s the tenant’s best interest to try and get out of whatever lease arrangement they’ve got signed and have a new person be on a direct agreement with the landlord.”

Horizon Real Estate Management requires a sublease agreement to be signed when a subleasing situation arises.

CLA Enterprises owner Chuck Anderson said that of CLA’s 130 leases, only four or five were subleases.

“They save themselves a lot of money,” Anderson said. “There’s still a security deposit; there’s no real issue with it.”

A small amount of paperwork is required by CLA Enterprises when someone subleases an apartment that keeps the sublessor liable, Anderson said.

Some people subleasing their Adolph Miller Real Estate property did so after dropping out of school or moving back home, said owner Paul Miller.

“If someone wants a sublease, [they] call in just like when getting an apartment,” Miller said. “We don’t have a problem with that. I’m for helping someone out in a difficult situation.”

Those looking into a sublease should check the lease and know what’s in it, Miller said.