Sublicensing: Unauthorized Sublicense Agreements

Unauthorized Sublicensing

All students in graduate housing who wish to sublicense their room or apartment while away from campus are required to follow certain procedures and to register the sublicense arrangement through Housing Assignments.  Any sublicense arrangement that has not been approved by Student Housing through Housing Assignments is considered to be unauthorized.  To have a sublicense arrangement approved, the license holder must submit to the Housing Assignments office a completed and signed Sublicense Agreement, proof of the sublicensee’s  Stanford affiliation and age, and any relevant addendums.  The documents should be submitted a minimum of two weeks prior to the beginning of the sublicense period.

Reasons for Requiring that Sublicense Agreements Be Approved*

  • Student Housing records all sublicense arrangements so that in the event of an emergency such as an earthquake, there is a record of who is staying in the apartment.
  • In the event that Student Housing needs to contact the students in a specific apartment due to a maintenance emergency, the contact information of each person living in each apartment is needed to send out notifications.
  • Housing at Stanford is a scarce commodity, and during the quarters with the highest demand (autumn and winter), access to sublicense arrangements within student housing is restricted to enrolled, matriculated graduate students. 

Consequences of Participating In an Unauthorized Sublicense Arrangement*

  • The unauthorized occupant may be required to vacate the apartment with little notice. In some cases, the person(s) may be required to vacate immediately.
  • The license holder will need to refund the unauthorized sublicensee any rent paid for dates after the new earlier move-out date.
  • The student license holder will be charged a $450 unauthorized sublicense administrative fee plus $175 per night unauthorized occupancy administrative fee until the unauthorized sublicensee has vacated the apartment and turned in the keys to the Housing Front Desk.
  • Notes will be made in the housing record of the student license holder, indicating that he or she had participated in an unauthorized sublicense arrangement.  Any landlord references provided in the future will include this information.
  • Depending on the circumstances, the participants in the unauthorized sublicense arrangement may have all current and/or future housing privileges withdrawn.
  • Depending on the circumstances, the participants in the unauthorized sublicense arrangement may be subject to University discipline if the participants' actions are deemed to constitute a breach of the Fundamental Standard.

In some cases, the unauthorized sublicense arrangement may be vetted after the fact and approved retroactively.  However, in these instances the unauthorized occupancy charges are not reversed.

*These lists are examples only, and are not meant to be exhaustive.