Roommates

Sharing an apartment with a friend or an acquaintance can be fun and economically worthwhile. Such sharing can also create some interesting problems.

Sharing an apartment with a friend or an acquaintance can be fun and help you to save on expenses. However, sharing an apartment can also cause some challenges. For example:

• One tenant moves out, leaving the remaining tenant to pay the full rent to the end of the lease.
• One tenant refuses to pay their share of the rent.
• Two friends rent an apartment. One has guests stay over which crowds the living situation.
• One tenant is disruptive and the other tenant is not. The innocent tenant and the landlord want to take the disruptive tenant’s name off the lease and have them leave.
• Two tenants agree to split up, and one tenant is willing to pay the rest of the lease, but the landlord won’t agree.

In a lease situation, all parties named on the lease (meaning the landlord and all tenants) must agree to a change in the lease terms. This means that a single tenant and the landlord cannot agree to remove other tenants' names from the lease. Similarly, even if all the tenants agree that one tenant can leave and want that tenant’s name to be taken off the lease, the landlord must also agree.

All tenants named on a lease are responsible for the entire lease term. If one tenant refuses to pay rent--whether or not that tenant continues to live there--and the other tenants cannot or will not pay full rent, all tenants may be evicted as a result. The landlord can then sue one tenant or all tenants for lost rent.

If an innocent tenant pays the full rent until the end of the lease, or is evicted, the innocent tenant can hold the other tenants responsible for damages. This means that the innocent tenant can sue the other tenants for the extra rent they had to pay (or still owe) to the landlord. If the landlord sues only the innocent tenant, that tenant can sue the other tenants for their share of the damages. This would bring the at-fault tenants into the suit so that all tenants have to appear before the judge.

How to prevent some of these "roommate problems":

• Choose your potential roommate carefully. Consider who is compatible with you. Have a clear understanding of each other’s lifestyle, how the apartment is to be managed, and what is expected of each other, especially as to guests, parties, noise, and cleanliness.
• Include your potential roommate on your rental agreement and make sure the leasing agent screens the roommate thoroughly. Having the roommate sign the agreement will prevent them from just leaving whenever they want. By signing the agreement, the roommate will be bound to the same rules as you. So, when it comes to payment, both parties will be responsible for paying the rent on time. This also holds both parties legally responsible for not being able to pay rent on time.
• If possible, each tenant should share with the other a current credit report, references, and evidence of job history and income that would warrant a partnership. (Most apartment complex companies will require that both tenants be qualified as to good credit, sufficient income, etc. so that obtaining a credit report wouldn’t be necessary.)
• If one tenant has enough income to rent the apartment alone and the landlord is agreeable, then they might want to be the only lease signer and rent to the other tenant on a month-to-month basis. If the relationship does not work out, it can be easily terminated, and the lease signer would be free to seek another apartment roommate.