Subletting is a nightmare for homeowners, especially if the tenant chooses not to inform them. If subletting is not something you even want to consider, you need to let your tenant know from the very beginning and should be stated clearly in the contract.
If this is done and your tenant still sublets, then you can take legal action against them if necessary. If you haven’t, then it’s going to be a very difficult ride.

Here’s how you can deal with it.

Verify that a sublease has actually occurred
Hold on! Don’t jump to conclusions when you find out that someone else is living at your property instead of the tenant. That person could just be house-sitting while your tenant is out of town. What you should do is interview both parties and find out if they truly are subletting the property. If they are, find out the terms and conditions of this arrangement. Your tenant is still responsible to uphold all the terms and conditions of the original contract to the property even if he is subletting. The new tenant must abide by these rules. If you decide to allow this, then a new agreement should be drawn up. This means that the subletting tenant will have two landlords; you and your first tenant.

Contact the original tenant
Find and contact your tenant and notify them of the breach in contract and any action you will be taking against them if necessary. If you can’t get hold of them, the new tenant should have means to contact the original tenant. Usually, it is customary to provide them with a period of days – no more than 30 – to fix the problem they have created.

Legal action
In most cases, the subletting tenant is an innocent party so if they refuse to leave the premises, you can’t really fault them. However, you can take legal action against the original tenant for breach of contract. A useful trick would be to add a clause in the original contract saying that updates and changes can be made to the existing lease agreement at the discretion of the landlord at any time. If the tenant refuses to comply with you, send them a written notice of the changes that will occur within a time frame – usually 30 days – after which legal action will be taken. This will give them time to fix the issue. If they refuse, you then have a reason to take them to court.


(中文版请看这里:http://www.durianproperty.com.my/blog/article/1131)