Subleases 101: Can My Landlord Refuse to Accept the Sublease?

My lease says I can't sublease. Is that legal?

If the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (RLTO) covers a tenant, no.

• If a tenant signed a lease that prohibits subletting, it is not enforceable.
• If the lease allows subletting only with the landlord's permission, it is likely enforceable. However, under Section 5-12-120 of the Chicago RLTO, the landlord must accept a reasonable sublease proposed by the tenant without charging extra fees.

If the Chicago RLTO does not cover a tenant, then yes.

• If a tenant signed a lease that prohibits subletting, it is enforceable.
• If the lease allows subletting only with the landlord's approval, a tenant must get their landlord's permission.

The landlord keeps rejecting my sublet tenant. Is that allowed?

A landlord can reject the sublet tenant. However, they generally must have business-related concerns like:

• The prospective subtenant does have enough income to pay rent
• They refused to fill out an application form
• Terrible credit
• History of evictions

NOTE: Illinois law says the landlord must accept "reasonable" sublease proposals. In practice, as long as the tenant follows the rules of the original lease and finds a subtenant who will do the same and pay the rent, the tenant's sublease is most likely "reasonable" and thus likely legal.