The fifth “Ask the Advocate” feature appears in the June 14th issue of the Washington Post Express’s “Ready to Rent” section.
Q: A friend of mine recently broke up with a partner with whom he shared his apartment. The breakup wasn’t pretty. My friend is keeping the apartment, and the ex is moving out. Does he need to sign a new lease that does not have the ex’s name on it? What could happen if the ex’s name remains on the lease?
A: Generally a new lease is not required, but the lease itself may require notice to the landlord when a named co-tenant moves out.
A new co-tenant will likely be subject to the landlord’s approval, and the landlord will almost certainly want to replace the name of the departed co-tenant with the name of the new co-tenant on the lease.