Sublease

A lessee (賃借人) letting a third party use the thing the lessee leases: subletting. A lessee may do this only with the lessor's (賃貸人) consent, and where the lessee lets a third party use the thing without it, the lessor may cancel the lease (Civil Code, Article 612). Where a thing has been sublet lawfully, the sublessee (転借人) owes duties directly to the lessor, up to what the lessee owes (Article 613, paragraph (1)). For land held in order to own a building, where the tenant wants to transfer the building to someone who would take over or sublease the land, and the landowner refuses consent although that would not put the landowner at a disadvantage, a court can, on the tenant's application, give permission in place of the landowner's consent, and may make it subject to a payment or to changed terms (Act on Land and Building Leases, Article 19, paragraph (1)). The landowner can answer by applying, within the time the court sets, to take the building and the lease, or a sublease, themselves, and the court can then order that, at a fair price and on sublease terms it sets (Article 19, paragraph (3)).