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How to Draft a Roommate Agreement

By eHow Personal Finance Editor

Rate: (8 Ratings)

Roommates make lots of informal agreements about splitting rent, sharing chores and choosing bedrooms. It's best to put your understandings in writing, because oral agreements are too easily forgotten or misinterpreted after the fact. Here are some key decisions to consider when drafting an agreement.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Step1

Determine everyone's share of the monthly rent. Designate who will write the rent check to the landlord.

Step2

Decide who will occupy which bedrooms.

Step3

Set up a schedule for household chores that lays out who is responsible for cleaning specific rooms or areas and how often.

Step4

Decide whether you will share shopping and cooking responsibilities. If so, how will you split the work and costs?

Step5

Agree upon a quiet curfew - when should stereos be turned off or down low?

Step6

Decide whether overnight guests are acceptable. If so, how often?

Step7

Determine how much notice a roommate must give before moving out. Also, decide whether the person moving out needs to find an acceptable replacement.

Step8

Come to an understanding about how disagreements among yourselves will be handled. If you want a roommate to leave, how can it be done fairly?

Step9

Write down everything once you've reached agreement.

Step10

Write your names, address, lease dates and monies owed at the top of the page.

Step11

List the agreements you've made clearly and concisely.

Step12

Include lines at the bottom of the page for signatures and dates.

Step13

Make copies so you will each have a signed draft.

Step14

Sign the agreement and date it.

Tips & Warnings

Spell everything out, even if it seems obvious. For example: "Food: Each roommate is responsible for her own food."
If you find problem areas in the implementation, renegotiate and draft a new agreement.
Seek a mediator or other neutral person to help resolve issues you cannot agree upon.
The agreement you make with your roommate does not concern your landlord. You will be held liable for the entire amount of rent owed on the apartment if your roommate fails to pay his or her share.

Comments

Anonymous said

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on 8/8/2006 Get a copy of any state or local laws for everyone to read. While these are often not binding between roommates, it is still good background information and may help spark useful discussions.

Anonymous said

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on 8/8/2006 Everyone should include at least one and preferably more emergency contacts - a relative, religious leader, job, doctor, best friend, insurance agent.

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 Make a chore chart. That way no one is technically stuck with all the work. Male roommates tend to have low standards, so it might be hard to get them to do the chores they've agreed to do. Talk about this stuff right before or after you move in. Any agreement made in the beginning will back you up, if you have to confront someone later on.

lilnyc said

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on 3/22/2007 Make sure to get a copy of your lease agreement!! I have a story worth writing a book about, but in brief...I was amended onto a lease, or at least I paid to be. Then a new management co took over and said I was never a tenant. Bottom line, my roommate never intended to add me, rather used me to pay the rent and told me to leave so that her family could move in a year later. It got very complicated, but this space is too small to detail it.

Anonymous said

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on 8/8/2006 One person should be in charge of keeping a monthly record, but this must be open to everyone. Write down all expenses, the split, and when paid. Write down important chores, if assigned, when done, by whom. Keep copies of all shared bills with this record.
This is also a good spot for anyone to write down minor problems, so they can be discussed later, and the resolution - if not resolved, that should also be noted.

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