From the Nolo.com Landlords & Tenants Center
Renting a Place With Others
A summary of the legal rules affecting roommates.
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.
| Only Landlords
Can Evict Tenants |
| As a general rule, you can't terminate
your roommate's tenancy by filing an eviction action.
The exception involves rentals governed by the
few rent control statutes, such as the one in San Francisco, that
allow a landlord to designate a "master tenant" -- usually
a long-term tenant who was there first -- to perform many of the
functions of a landlord. Master tenants have the right to choose
-- as well as to evict -- tenants. If your municipality is subject
to rent control, find out whether the scheme includes a provision
for a master tenant.
|
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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:
- Rent.What is everyone's share? Who will write the rent check if the landlord will accept only one check?
- Space.Who will occupy which bedrooms?
- Household chores.Who's responsible for cleaning, and on what schedule?
- Food sharing.Will you be sharing food, shopping and cooking responsibilities? How will you split the costs and work?
- Noise.When should stereos be turned off or down low?
- Overnight guests.Is it okay for boyfriends/girlfriends to stay over every night?
- 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:
- 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.
- Bedrooms.Alex and Brian will share the
large bedroom with the adjacent deck; Charles will have the
small bedroom.
- Food.Each co-tenant is responsible for
his own food purchases.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Exam Periods.During mid-term and final
exam periods, no co-tenant will have overnight guests or parties.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
_______________________________
Alex Andrews |
___________________
Date |
_______________________________
Brian Bates |
___________________
Date |
_______________________________
Charles Chew |
___________________
Date |
|
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