Start With Your Lease, Not the City
It's tempting to research whether your city allows Airbnb-style rentals and stop there, but your lease is the first barrier, and it usually matters more day-to-day than local law. Most residential leases either prohibit subletting entirely or require the landlord's written consent before you rent out the unit, or even a room in it, to anyone, including short-term guests through a platform. Renting the unit out without checking your lease first is one of the more common ways renters accidentally violate their lease.
Why Short-Term Renting Counts as Subletting
Letting a paying guest stay in your unit is exactly the arrangement lease clauses on subletting and short-term rentals are written to cover, and those rules apply even for a single weekend. A sublease, as defined by Cornell Law School's legal dictionary, is "a lease by the lessee of an estate to a third person" for part or all of the space, and importantly, "the original lessee still has the responsibility to fulfill the lease obligations." That means even where subletting is allowed under some conditions, you remain fully responsible for anything that happens: damage, noise complaints, other lease violations, all of it. A platform booking confirmation doesn't change any of that — from your landlord's point of view, a paying guest you brought in for a weekend is functionally the same as a subtenant, just for a much shorter term.
City and Building Rules Are a Separate Layer
Beyond your lease, cities increasingly regulate short-term rentals directly, often requiring the property owner, not just the platform host, to register, obtain a permit, or pay a hotel-style occupancy tax, and some cities cap how many nights per year a unit can be rented short-term or restrict it in certain buildings. These rules vary significantly by city and change often, so check your specific city's short-term rental ordinance directly rather than relying on what a platform or a general guide says is allowed. Some cities also require that the host be the primary resident of the unit, which would rule out renting out an apartment you don't actually live in most of the time, separate from whatever your lease says. If you live in a building with an HOA or condo association, its rules are a third layer on top of both your lease and the city's, and HOAs frequently restrict short-term rentals even where the city permits them — and HOA fines can be assessed against the unit itself, which your landlord may then pass on to you.
What Can Happen If You Do It Anyway
Violating a no-subletting or no-short-term-rental clause can lead to:
- A lease violation notice, which may need to be cured within a set period
- Loss of your security deposit toward any damage a paying guest caused
- Non-renewal of your lease
- In serious or repeated cases, eviction
Your landlord doesn't need to catch you in the act — a neighbor's complaint, a delivery, or the listing itself being public online is often enough for them to find out. Neighbors in particular tend to notice a rotating cast of strangers with luggage, and building staff or a doorman will often mention it to management even without being asked. There's also a practical risk beyond the lease itself: your renter's insurance policy may not cover damage or liability caused by a paying short-term guest, since most policies are written around you as the occupant, not a commercial hosting arrangement.
If You Want to Ask Permission
Some landlords will allow occasional short-term renting if you ask, sometimes for an added fee or with conditions like liability insurance or a cap on the number of nights per year. Put the request in writing and get any approval in writing too — a verbal "sure, that's fine" is hard to rely on if a dispute comes up later, and a landlord who was fine with one weekend rental may push back hard if it turns into a regular income stream. If your landlord says no, that's the end of it for this lease term; you can always raise it again at renewal, but renting anyway after being told no turns an ordinary lease violation into a much harder conversation.
Check Before You List
Before you list your unit anywhere, upload your lease to Honestkey™ to see exactly what it says about subletting and short-term guests. It's a much cheaper check than finding out the hard way after your first booking.