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How to make a roommate agreement in 3 steps

1. 1

   Add the roommates and the home

   Two to six roommates, each with their room and share of the rent (and of the deposit), then the address and the lease.

2. 2

   Agree on bills and house rules

   How rent reaches the landlord, how bills are split and whose name they are in, then the house rules: quiet hours, guests, chores, food.

3. 3

   Print and sign

   Print one copy for each roommate. Everyone signs every copy (and initials each page), and each keeps one.

What a roommate agreement should include

• Every roommate’s name, room and share of the rent
• Each share of the security deposit, and what happens to it when someone moves out
• How the rent gets to the landlord, and by when
• Which bills are shared, how they are split and whose name they are in
• House rules: quiet hours, guests, cleaning and chores, food, smoking, pets
• Privacy: no one goes into another roommate’s room without asking
• How much notice to give before moving out, and how a new roommate is chosen
• How you will settle a disagreement
• Everyone’s signature and the date

The lease, the law and your agreement

A roommate agreement is between the roommates. It does not change the lease with the landlord, and the landlord is not bound by it. If several roommates signed the lease, the landlord may be able to ask any of them for the whole rent, whatever your agreement says about shares; this depends on the lease and the law where the home is.

So read the lease first: it may limit guests, pets or subletting, or require the landlord’s approval for a new roommate. Keep your house rules in line with it.

If you are the only one on the lease and you rent rooms to the others, you are their landlord in law, and the room rental agreement is the better fit.

Tips for living together

• Talk it through together before anyone signs, and write down what you actually agree.
• Put a chore rota on the fridge (the chore chart maker can print one).
• Pay rent and bills in a way that leaves a record, and keep receipts for shared costs.
• When someone moves out, walk through the home together and note any damage.
• Change the agreement when something changes (a new roommate, a new bill), and have everyone sign again.

This page is general information, not legal advice. If something goes wrong between roommates, a local tenant service or community mediation can help.