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Renting a Place With Others

A Summary of the legal rules affecting roommates.

From the Nolo.com Landlord and Tenant Center
When two or more people simultaneously sign the same rental agreement or lease -- or enter into the same oral rental agreement -- they are co-tenants and share the same legal rights and responsibilities. But there's a special twist. One co-tenant's negative behavior -- not paying the rent, for example -- can affect everyone's tenancy.

If One Roommate Doesn't Pay Rent

Co-tenants may decide to split the rent equally or unequally, depending on their own personal wishes. However, such agreements don't have any impact on the landlord. Each co-tenant is independently liable to the landlord for all of the rent. Landlords often remind co-tenants of this obligation by inserting into the lease a chunk of legalese which says that the tenants are "jointly and severally" liable for paying rent and adhering to terms of the agreement. If one tenant can't pay a share of the rent in a particular month, or simply moves out, the other tenant(s) must still pay the full rent.

Landlords often insist on receiving one rent check for the entire rent -- they don't want to be bothered with multiple checks from co-tenants, even if each co-tenant pays on time and the checks add up to the full rent. As long as you have been advised of this policy in the rental agreement or lease, it's legal for your landlord to impose it.

If One Roommate Violates the Lease or Rental Agreement

A landlord can, legally, hold all co-tenants responsible for the negative actions of just one, and terminate everyone's tenancy with the appropriate notice. For example, two co-tenants can be evicted if one of them seriously damages the property or otherwise violates the lease or rental agreement. In practice, however, landlords sometimes ignore the legal rule that all tenants are equally liable for lease violations, and don't penalize a blameless one. If the non-offending roommates pay the rent on time, do not damage the landlord's property and can differentiate themselves from the bad apple in the landlord's eyes, the landlord will probably want to keep them.

Agreements -- and Disagreements -- Among Roommates

Roommates make lots of informal agreements about splitting rent, occupying bedrooms and sharing chores. Your landlord isn't bound by these agreements, and has no power to enforce them. For all sorts of reasons, roommate arrangements regularly go awry. If you have shared an apartment or house, you know about roommates who play the stereo too loud, never wash a dish, always pay their share of the rent late, have too many overnight guests, leave their gym clothes on the kitchen table or otherwise drive you nuts. If the situation gets bad enough, you'll likely end up arguing with your roommates about who should leave.

The more you can anticipate possible problems from the start, the better prepared you'll be to handle disputes that do arise. First, try to choose compatible housemates. Before you move in, sit down with your roommates and create your own agreement covering major issues, such as:

1. Rent. What is everyone's share? Who will write the rent check if the landlord will accept only one check?
2. Space. Who will occupy which bedrooms?
3. Household chores. Who's responsible for cleaning, and on what schedule?
4. Food sharing. Will you be sharing food, shopping and cooking responsibilities? How will you split the costs and work?
5. Noise. When should stereos be turned off or down low?
6. Overnight guests. Is it okay for boyfriends/girlfriends to stay over every night?
7. Moving out. If one of you decides to move, how much notice must be given? Must the departing tenant find an acceptable substitute?
   
   It's best to put your understandings in writing. (See the sample roommate agreement, below.) Oral agreements are too easily forgotten or misinterpreted after the fact.

Be as specific as possible, especially on issues that are important to you. If dirty dishes in the sink drive you up the wall, write it down. If occasional guests are no problem, but you can't stand the thought of your roommate's (non-rent-paying) boyfriend hogging the bathroom every morning, make sure your agreement is clear on guests.

Most of this kind of agreement isn't legally binding -- that is, a judge won't order a tenant to clean the bathroom. Judges will, however, enforce financial agreements, such as how rent is to be shared.

By far the greatest value of committing your understanding of co-tenant rights and responsibilities to writing is that it forces you and your housemates to take your co-tenancy responsibilities seriously. To underline this commitment, it's always wise to include a clause requiring co-tenants to participate in mediation before one of you breaks the agreement by moving out or running off to court. Our sample roommate agreement, below, includes such a clause.

Sample Roommate Agreement

Alex Andrews, Brian Bates and Charles Chew are co-tenants at Apartment 2, 360 Capitol Avenue, Oakdale, Kentucky, under a year-long lease that expires on February 1, 200__. They have all signed a lease with the landlord, Reuben Shaw, and have each paid $300 towards the security deposit of $900. Alex, Brian and Charles all agree as follows:

1. Rent. The rent of $900 per month will be shared equally, at $300 per person. Alex will write a check for the total month's rent and take it to the manager's office on the first of each month (or the next day if the 1st falls on a holiday). Brian and Charles will pay their share to Alex on or before the due date.
2. Bedrooms. Alex and Brian will share the large bedroom with the adjacent deck; Charles will have the small bedroom.
3. Food. Each co-tenant is responsible for his own food purchases.
4. Cleaning. Charles will clean his own room; Alex and Brian will clean theirs weekly. The household chores for the rest of the apartment -- living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom -- will rotate, with each co-tenant responsible for vacuuming, dusting, mopping and bathroom maintenance on a weekly basis. Each co-tenant will promptly clean up after himself in the kitchen. No one will leave dishes in the sink for more than 24 hours, and everyone will promptly clean up when asked.
5. Utilities. Everyone will pay an equal share of the electricity and gas bills. Alex will arrange for service and will pay the bill. Within three days of receiving the bill, Charles and Brian will each pay Alex one-third of the total.
6. Phone. Alex will arrange for phone service and will pay the monthly bill. Within three days of receiving the bill, Alex, Brian and Charles will identify their own long-distance charges and Brian and Charles will each pay Alex their long-distance totals, plus one-third of the fixed charges.
7. Guests. Because of the apartment's small size, each tenant agrees to have no more than one overnight guest at a time and to inform the others in advance, if possible. Each co-tenant agrees to no more than four guests overnight in a month.
8. Exam Periods. During mid-term and final exam periods, no co-tenant will have overnight guests or parties.
9. Violations of the Agreement. The co-tenants agree that repeated and serious violations of one or more of these understandings will be grounds for any two co-tenants to ask the other to leave. If a co-tenant is asked to leave, he will do so within two weeks, and will forfeit any outstanding pre-paid rent.
10. Leaving Before the Lease Ends. If a co-tenant wants to leave before the lease expires on February 1, 200_, he will give as much notice as possible (and not less than one month) and diligently try to find a replacement tenant who is acceptable to the remaining co-tenants and the landlord.
11. Security Deposits. The co-tenant who leaves early (voluntarily or involuntarily) will get his share of the security deposit returned, minus costs of rent, repairs, replacement and cleaning attributable to the departing tenant, when and if an acceptable co-tenant signs the lease and contributes his share to the security deposit. If an acceptable co-tenant cannot be found, the departing tenant will not receive any portion of his share of the security deposit until the tenancy of the remaining co-tenants is over and the security deposit is refunded (or not) by the landlord.
12. Dispute Resolution. If a dispute arises concerning this agreement or any aspect of the shared living situation, the co-tenants will ask the University Housing Office Mediation Service for assistance before they terminate the co-tenancy or initiate a lawsuit. This will involve all three tenants sitting down with a mediator in good faith to try to resolve the problems.

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