As next year’s housing search begins, current apartment tenants should begin the hunt for summer subtenants.

Most apartments bind their tenants to year-long leases, making students pay full rent while living at home, studying abroad or beginning an internship off campus.

For the months they are absent, students choose to cut costs by finding a subtenant. For the leaseholder, subleasing offers an opportunity to save money; for the subtenant, subleasing offers a short-term housing arrangement at a reduced rate.

Fernanda SantosLB, senior in Business, said the best way to find a subtenant is to take initiative; she found her summer subtenant by posting about her apartment on Craigslist and the University Housing Facebook page for apartments.

Santos said just as students begin looking for a place to lease as early as possible for the school year, they should also get a head start when subleasing their apartments, especially for the summer months.

“If you want to be able to sublease your apartment as close to its rental value, you need to start earlier because the closer you are to summer, the more people are desperate and so they’re reducing the prices of their rent, forcing you to also have to reduce your rent,” she said.

The University’s Tenant Union, located on the third floor of the Illini Union, offers free walk-in consultation for finding a subtenant or an apartment to sublease. They recommend students looking to sublease their apartments in the summer make the rent price negotiable.

There are some risks involved in subletting an apartment. Usually the current tenant and subtenant will sign a written contract to ensure that the subtenant will pay the rent and avoid property damage. However, the original tenant ultimately remains responsible for the rent and any damages. Therefore, finding a reliable subtenant should be a top priority.

Santos’ experience was positive and she received her full safety deposit at the end of her lease.

“You might want to make sure you meet them (your subtenant) a few times before you agree to sublease because, like I said, you are liable for any destruction of property and you want to get that safety deposit back,” she said.

The Tenant Union also recommends conducting a joint inspection of the apartment on the first day of the sublease, which it will notarize for free.

Students planning to stay on campus over the summer who live in dorms or other housing that ends in May should consider subleasing an apartment. Only select University dorms, such as Daniel Hall, offer summer housing, and from an economical standpoint, it may make more sense to sublease instead.

“I think subleasing from someone is cheaper than staying in dorms. And (in a dorm) you don’t have your own kitchen,” said Anne Houlb, sophomore in ACES.

Hou subleased an apartment in Green Street Towers this past summer. To find her apartment, Hou went on the Facebook group, which lists prices, amenities and pictures.

“I also posted what I was looking for in the group so that they could message me,” she said.

Subtenants should consider the same amenities that they would for longer-term apartment leasing, such as personal bathrooms and in-unit washers and dryers. Finding temporary roommates with similar values is also important.

“I would recommend finding a roommate you know beforehand instead of just going random,” Hou said.

Subtenants are bound to the terms of the original lease, so before signing a written agreement, the Tenant Union advises they read a copy of it and check for any additional end-of-the-lease charges they may be held to. They may ask for a copy of the account so that no owed rent or charges from the previous tenant fall on them.

Prospective subtenants have more time to make a decision, as rent prices tend to lower closer to the summer.

“You don’t have to make a decision right away because there are so many options,” Hou said. “Go look until you find one that you want, or until you find a cheaper option.”

There are alternatives to subleasing. Some apartments may accept a six-month lease, and others, such as University Housing apartments (not residence halls), may let a tenant out of the lease early.

Some apartment realties such as West Quad Apartments relet apartments instead of subleasing them. In this process, the new tenant signs a copy of the original lease and agrees fully to the terms, and pays his or her own security deposit.

Anissa Vasquezlb, West Quad Apartments leasing agent and junior in Media, explained the process.

“Whenever you want out of your contract, you just say, ‘I’m reletting and someone is taking over my lease.’ It doesn’t even have to be six months, it could be you want to live there for three months and someone wants to live there for the remaining months,” she said.

Because of its flexibility, the reletting process works well with students who want to change roommates, leave, live somewhere just for the summer or study abroad for a semester, because in the reletting process, as Vasquez explained, “The tenant is not tied to their lease at all.”

Similar to subleasing, there are fees associated with reletting. However, the old tenant is not responsible for damages caused by the next tenant.

Vasquez advises anyone looking to sublease or relet their apartment to post on “your personal Facebook page, post all over the Facebook groups — there’s about five or six groups about housing or roommates — (and) try to find exchange students, because its a big market. Just blow it up.”

Having leased an apartment for two years now, Vasquez said she’s followed those strategies and gotten a lot of responses.

The subleasing and reletting processes, along with a few other options, provide students with various opportunities to find short-term housing.

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