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Roommate(s) Agreement

(We recommend that you review the sample written agreement found on roommates365.com.
Use it, or consider the main guidelines when writing your own agreement).

Main guidelines:

The Lease and Move In Date
Determine the move in date agreeable to both of you and the landlord. (We recommend starting the lease as close as possible to the move in date in order to save expenses.) Request that everyone living in the property be named on the lease and that the rental responsibilities between you and your roommate be divided. (By doing this you will ensure that everyone is equally responsible for paying the rent, maintenance and other obligations related to the lease). This is a legal way (under the terms of the lease) to protect yourself against responsibility for all the obligations related to the lease if your roommate don’t pay his/her share.

Payment obligations
All roommates sharing the property must agree amongst themselves on how to divide the costs:

• Who will be responsible for paying the rent? (We recommend that the rent be split and that each roommates pay their share. In this way the payment history will be generated by all roommates appearing on the lease and it will help prevent future problems).
• The utilities will be in whose name? (We recommend that each roommate have at least one utility in his/her name so that the responsibilities will be divided. Reconcile the payments between all the roommates at the end of each month.)

Property responsibility obligations
All roommates sharing the property must agree amongst themselves on the division of responsibilities:

• First check with the landlord which household chores are being provided by him/her as part of the monthly rent (cleaning, gardening and any other maintenance required).
• All roommates should discuss who will be responsible for the household chores, and how will they be divided. (In some instances you can pay the landlord extra to take care of most or all the household chores.)
• If you decide that some of the chores will it be done by the roommates, determine if the work will be shared by all the roommates each time or by taking turns. Decide how often the work needs to be done, for example every other weekend, or if you will hire a professional and split the cost.

The division of the residence space
Determine which bedroom & bathroom each one of the roommates gets. (We recommend that if there is a big difference between the room's size and/or location that might effect the division of the rent between the roommates, to settle this in advance.)

Private spaces in the house
Determine what are the private spaces in the house, and define how private they are. (For example, the other roommate can/can't enter the private spaces.) Usually the spaces defined as private are the bedroom and bathroom, unless they re shared.

Quiet hours
Determine when the "quiet hours" will take place during the week and especially on the weekends. (Usually it depends on the working hours of the roommates.) Define what "quiet hours" means:
- Does it mean lowering the volume on all TVs, stereos, etc. throughout the house or just in the living room?
- Does it include bringing friends to the house and does it apply just to the living room or all also in your private spaces?

Guests situations
Decide what is allowed and what is not, and if in some situations the expenses should be split differently. (Remember to put it all of this in writing!) Discuss and agree upon a policy for the following situations:

• An overnight guest who sleeps in the roommate’s room.
• An overnight guest who sleeps on the couch.
• A guest that comes for extended periods of time.
• Boyfriends/girlfriends who are practically living in the house.

Every day living expenses
Determine who will buy the every day living necessities such as groceries, laundry products, basic house cleaning products, etc. (You must decide if you will share these expenses or if everyone buys their own. Set rules regarding the use of groceries and other items each one buys and how to distinguish each roommate’s items.)

Moving out before the end of the lease
If one of the roommates needs/decides to leave before the end of the lease, determine his/her obligations:

• How much notice is he/she is required to give the other roommate(s).
• When a roommate decides to leave, is it his/her responsibility to find a replacement?
• Does the replacement roommate require the approval of the other roommate(s)?

Miscellaneous

• Determine smoking habits (will it be allowed everywhere inside the house, in certain areas of the house, outside, or not at all).
• Are pets allowed, and if yes, what kind of pets and who is responsible for any damage that might occur? (It is very important to decide this in advance in order to prevent future disagreements and/or problems between yourselves or between you and the landlord.)

Avoid misunderstandings
The best way to ensure that there are no misunderstandings is to talk about everything, not assume anything and put it all in writing. (We recommend that you review the sample written agreement found on roommates365.com.)