How Much Notice Do You Have to Give Your Landlord?

Q: I sublet a market-rate rental apartment in Brooklyn on a month-to-month basis. There is nothing in my sublet agreement with the prime tenant that states how much notice I have to give before I move out. A previous subletter moved out with only a few days’ notice, and the prime tenant withheld their security deposit, claiming it had to be used for the uncovered next months’ rent. Are they legally able to do that? Am I bound by some law requiring that I give more notice if we haven’t agreed upon it?

A: Technically, the law does not require that you give the prime tenant, who is also your landlord, a certain amount of notice before you move out. But there is some nuance here.

“If a judge thought it was unfair or inequitable — that there was lack of notice, even if it wasn’t legally required — it could bear on the decision,” said David A. Kaminsky, a real estate lawyer in Manhattan.