Contents

• Eligibility for subletting
• General information on subletting an apartment or a room
• Document submission check list
• Subletting Registry
• Guidelines for selecting a subtenant and establishing an agreement
• I want to sublet my apartment or room. How do I list it online?
• I am searching for an apartment to sublet. How do I view the listings of apartments or rooms available for subletting online?
• I have found a subtenant. I have found an apartment to sublet. What next?
• Check application status
• Contact us for further assistance
• Other Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

Eligibility for subletting  

A student's application will be approved only for the following reasons:

1. Approved academic field work or research outside the metropolitan area
2. Summer or intersession vacation
3. You are expected to retain your status as a full-time affiliate and return to the apartment for a minimum of one semester at the expiration of your sublet agreement.
4. Please note that summer sublets will be processed once lease/contract renewal forms have been signed and returned. Lease/contract renewal forms are typically mailed to students in early May.
5. If your rent is not fully paid when you apply for permission to sublet, the application will not be processed until the full amount due is remitted.

Faculty may also apply to sublet if they will be on an approved sabbatical leave or other approved leave of absence. Please refer to the instructions on the Faculty/Staff sublet application.

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General information on subletting an apartment or a room

1. Although the University encourages you to sublet to a Columbia University (CU) affiliate, your application will not be denied if you are unable to do so.
2. A student in an apartment share/dorm-style accommodation may sublet only to someone of the same gender. For example, if you are male and live in an apartment share/dorm-style accommodation, you can only sublet to a male subtenant. No exceptions can be made to this policy.
3. Apartment shares and dorm-style accommodations are for single occupancy only. Permission to sublet will be granted for only one person per leased/contracted unit. Additional occupants are prohibited. Failure to adhere to this condition will result in revocation of the permission to sublet.
4. Students living at 517 West 121st Street (Teachers College) may only sublet to graduate students affiliated with Columbia University.
5. Your subtenant has no independent rights to the unit and will not be permitted to retain the apartment beyond the term of the sublet.
6. Your application for permission to sublet must be signed and approved on behalf of the University and cannot be assigned to another subtenant. If you sublet the apartment without obtaining this authorization, the University may take legal action against you and your subtenant to obtain possession of the premises.
7. Do not file a Vacancy Form for a unit you are subletting. The Superintendent cannot be responsible for providing keys to a subtenant, so please make arrangements to provide keys to your subtenant.

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 Document submission check list

1. STUDENTS: Complete the student application for sublet. Please allow a minimum of seven working days for the processing of this application. The application is to be completed by both you and your subtenant and returned to: Columbia University, Off-Campus Housing Assistance (OCHA) Office, 419 West 119th Street, Lower Level, Mail Code: 8893, New York, NY 10027. Please make copies of the completed application prior to submitting it to OCHA.

FACULTY AND STAFF: Complete the faculty application for sublet. The application is to be completed by both you and your subtenant and submitted to: Jane Hunt, Faculty Housing Manager, 400 West 119th Street, New York, NY 10027.

2. Provide a passport-size photo of the subtenant with his/her name written on the reverse side (or photos, if the unit is for a couple or family). FACULTY AND STAFF are not required to submit subtenant photos.

3. If your subtenant is an affiliate, he/she will be required to submit documentation of his/her CU affiliation such as a copy of a CUID that has a legible photo. If you sublet to a non-affiliate, a letter of reference from an employer or current identification from an academic institution will be required.

4. If the sublet is during the academic year, the "Student Sublet Request Verification" form must be completed and signed by the student's housing liaison. This form is part of the student application for sublet.

FACULTY AND STAFF: If the sublet is during the academic year, the tenant must supply certification from the school/department that he/she will be on approved leave of absence. The required certification form is part of the faculty application to sublet.

5. Optional submission: You may elect to continue paying the rent yourself, with the subtenant paying you, or you may authorize the subtenant to pay rent directly to the Office of the Controller. If you choose the latter, we suggest that you periodically check the status of your rental account with the Office of the Controller at 212-854-1009. If your rent is billed by term, you may not use this option since you are billed by the Office of Student Financial Services.

6. Students living at 2183 Amsterdam Avenue should contact OCHA to obtain additional forms to be completed by potential subtenants in order for the building management to perform a subtenant credit check.

7. Any incomplete applications will be returned.  

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Subletting Registry

In order to facilitate the subletting process for both the prime tenant who is looking for a subtenant and the subtenant who is looking for short-term housing, we have automated the search and find process on the Internet with the Subletting Registry.

The Subletting Registry is a free service that lists Columbia units, both furnished and unfurnished, for sublet. The unit listings are located in the immediate vicinity of Columbia University.

Only affiliated tenants are allowed to list available housing with the Subletting Registry. No finder's fee or fees of any kind may be charged to anyone viewing the listings or finding housing through the listings. Listers who are found to be charging fees will have their listings immediately canceled and will not be allowed to sublet their apartment or room.

All listers must be aware that their listed apartments are offered in accordance with applicable University, city, state, and federal statutes and regulations governing equal opportunity and non-discriminatory access to housing.  

Anyone is allowed to search the Subletting Registry database.  

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Guidelines for selecting a subtenant and establishing an agreement    

1. Please keep in mind that as the primary tenant, you will remain responsible for the rent and all other terms and conditions of the lease/contract; select your subtenant carefully.
2. In addition to the sublet agreement form, it is highly recommended that you have a written agreement with your subtenant detailing your arrangements for the sublet (i.e. rent, utilities, cable, Ethernet, damages, etc.).
3. It is recommended that you obtain a security deposit from your subtenant.
4. The requested monthly rent under the terms of the sublease may not exceed by more than 10% the monthly rent under your lease with Columbia University.

I want to sublet my apartment or room. How do I list it online?

Only affiliated tenants are allowed to list available housing with the Subletting Registry.  

To ensure that only affiliated tenants list apartments or rooms, a listing password is required to connect to Subletting Registry. Click here to obtain your Subletting Registry listing password. Please note that the Subletting Registry is designed to work with Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher.  

Once you have your listing password, scroll down to and click on the “FOR LISTERS” Subletting Registry button (icon with colorful houses).  Click on “New Listing” and when prompted, enter the listing password you just received. 

Your listing will appear on the Internet within 24 to 48 hours pending OCHA management review. To see your listing, scroll down to and click on the “FOR SEARCHERS” Subletting Registry button (icon with colorful houses).  Click on “Housing Search,” then to find your listing, complete only the following fields of information: 1) housing type; 2) gender, if it’s an apartment share or dormitory-style unit; and 3) enter zero for the minimum and enter the rent you are charging as the maximum. 

FOR LISTERS

Click on above button to List in the Subletting Registry

Unless you otherwise desire, we strongly recommend that in the field "general location" you enter a general location instead of a street address.  For example, if your apartment is at 420 West 119th Street, Apt. 3B, you might put down: "On 119th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Drive on the 3rd floor." You can enter the exact address in the "exact address" field (this field will be kept confidential and will not appear on the Web).
 

We also strongly recommend that you only provide your first name in the "Contact Name" field.

The requested monthly rent under the terms of the sublease may not exceed by more than 10% the monthly rent under the lease with Columbia University. Sublets which specify a rent exceeding this amount will not be approved, and listings for such units will be removed immediately from the Columbia Web site without notification to the tenant.

Once you have listed your apartment or room, you will receive an email confirmation with a listing code and a date when your listing will automatically be purged from the system. Please keep that code, as you will need it to renew, remove, or modify your listing.  

To edit or remove an existing listing, click on “Modify Listing.”  You will then need to enter your listing code (confirmation number) you received when you originally placed the listing as well as the email address you provided in the listing.  Once you find a subtenant, please remove your listing. 

People who are interested in your apartment or room will be contacting you via email.  This email will include information such as their name, affiliation, phone numbers, and email address. Bear in mind that your email address will be kept confidential and will not be seen by anyone. PLEASE ENTER YOUR COMPLETE EMAIL ADDRESS. For example if your email is pem23@columbia.edu, DO NOT ENTER pem23.

I am searching for an apartment to sublet. How do I view the listings of apartments or rooms available for subletting online?

Anyone is allowed to search the Subletting Registry database by clicking on the link below. Go to the area for housing search and follow the instructions. If you want to save a profile of your search request, check "I want to be notified of new listings." For the next two weeks, the system will notify you via email whenever a unit that matches your search criteria is entered into the system.

When you find apartments or rooms that you may be interested in subletting, click on the “Inquire” button at the bottom of the page where the apartment or room is described. Fill out the form and submit it to the prime tenant of the apartment. He or she will contact you regarding the sublet.

No finder's fee or fees of any kind may be charged for finding housing through the listings. If anyone at any point in time tries to solicit any fees, please let us know through our Feedback section.

The majority of UAH sublets are for the summer months and are posted between April and August. If you are looking for a sublet at other times of the year and receive a message saying, "Sorry. Your search produced no results," try broadening your search criteria. If there are still no listings, then no units are available for sublet at the time of your search. Please try again later.

FOR SEARCHERS

Click on above button to Search the Subletting Registry  

I have found a subtenant. I have found an apartment to sublet. What next?

After a match is made between prime tenant and prospective subtenant, both parties must submit an Application for Permission to Sublet. This application is to be completed by both the Tenant and the Subtenant.

Student applications should be returned to OCHA at the following address: Columbia University, Off-Campus Housing Assistance Office, 419 West 119th Street -Lower Level, Mail Code: 8893, New York, NY 10027.

Faculty/Staff applications should be sent to the attention of Jane Hunt, Columbia University, University Apartment Housing, 400 West 119th Street, New York, 10027.

Download application

You can download the application, complete it, print it, sign it and send it in. To start, click the button below.

Check application status

Students can check the status of their sublet application by clicking here.

Please allow at least 7 days for the application to be processed.  

Contact us for further assistance

HELP!

If you have any questions, need help, want to report any problems, or to make suggestions click here.  

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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