What counts as written sublease approval: the five gates

A property is sublease-approved when the owner has said yes in writing, the writing names short-term rental specifically, the city allows that use at that address, the approval was given before anyone signed, and the owner can actually be reached to confirm it. Those are the five gates Zi-Find reviews every board submission against, and they are the same standard to aim for on anything you list.

The five gates

1. Permission in writing

An email, a letter or a signed addendum you can attach. A phone call where the owner said yes is not this gate, however certain you are. Get it in a form you can forward.

2. It names short-term specifically

The words matter. "Subletting permitted" means a tenant can hand the place to someone for a year. It says nothing about a guest staying four nights. Generic permission to sublet is the most common near-miss: it reads like a yes and it is not one.

Tip: ask the owner to put the phrase in their own reply — for example, "just so we have it in writing, can you confirm short-term rental is permitted?" Owners usually say yes, and then the document says it.

3. The city allows it at this address

At the address, not in the city generally. Permit caps, zoning and registration can differ street by street, and a landlord's permission does not outrank the city. Check registration, permitting and zoning before you spend time on the owner.

4. Documented before signing

An approval asked for after a lease is signed was negotiated from zero leverage, and it is the one least likely to hold up. Ask for it before the lease conversation closes.

5. The owner is reachable

Zi-Find contacts the owner directly on every board property. This is the one gate you cannot check in advance, which is why forms ask for the owner's best email and phone — the ones they actually answer. A property that fails here is the most fixable kind: get a better number and send it back in.

Other things that make an approval stronger

• Name the unit. "The property" is not the same as "Unit 4B", and a building can have one approved unit out of six.
• Make it unconditional. "Approved pending board review" is a maybe with a signature on it.
• Get it from someone who can bind the property — the owner of record, or a manager whose letter states their authority.

Other reasons a submission can come back

Not every refusal is about the gates:

• This address has already been paid for — someone was already paid for this property recently.
• Already submitted — you sent this address in before.
• The property is no longer available — the world changed; it is not a fault in your work.

The board checks the first two for you as you type the address, before anything is spent. See Submitting a property to the board.

Good to know

• Zi-Find does not give legal advice and never tells you a use is legal. Check the lease, HOA rules and local short-term rental rules, and speak to a licensed professional when in doubt.
• Listings ask you to confirm you have documented landlord approval before they publish. Owners of properties you list on their behalf get an email asking them to confirm too.

Is a text message enough?

It can be, if it is from the owner, says short-term rental, and you can attach it. The board form lets you pick how approval came in: email, signed form, text message, in person or other. "In person" alone will not pass gate 1.