Lease
Roommate Agreement
Settle rent, bills, deposit, and living arrangements between roommates — before you move in, while everyone still agrees.
Available product levels
Customized Agreements
$29.99Guided questions and tailored clauses for agreements that need specific protections.
When to use this document
- Moving in with a friend, partner, or someone you found online
- Formalising an arrangement that has been informal and is starting to strain
- One roommate is on the lease and the other is not
- Splitting rent unevenly because the rooms differ
Information you will need
- Both roommates, the property, and the lease it sits alongside
- Who is named on the lease
- Total rent, how it is split, who collects it, and when shares are due
- Deposit contributions and how the refund is divided
- How utilities and household bills are handled
- Shared space, guests, quiet hours, and jointly bought property
- Notice to move out, replacement process, and the governing state
What you receive
- A twelve-article Roommate Agreement
- Signature blocks for both roommates
- Completion instructions
- PDF and editable DOCX export
Special situations
- This agreement binds the roommates, not the landlord. It does not change the lease and cannot limit what the landlord may do.
- Where the lease names both of you, you are usually jointly and severally liable. The landlord can pursue either roommate for the entire rent, regardless of how you have agreed to split it.
- Moving out does not remove you from the lease. Only the landlord can do that, and until they do you may remain liable for the whole rent even after you have gone.
- A replacement roommate normally needs the landlord's approval as well as yours. Moving someone in without it is commonly a breach by every roommate.
- Deposit contributions are frequently unequal and almost never remembered correctly at move-out. Record them now.
Jurisdiction
The tenancy itself is governed by state and often city law, covering deposits, notice, entry, and habitability. Those rules override anything roommates agree between themselves. This agreement states no deposit rule or notice period.
Frequently asked questions
Does this protect me if my roommate stops paying rent?
Between the two of you, yes — it records what they owe and gives you something to enforce. Against the landlord, no. If you are both on the lease, the landlord can pursue you for the entire rent, and your recourse is then against your roommate rather than against the landlord.
What is joint and several liability?
Each tenant named on the lease is responsible for the whole rent, not just their share. It is the single most consequential thing about sharing a lease and the least understood. Your roommate agreement divides the burden between you; it does not divide it for the landlord.
My roommate wants to move out early. What happens?
They give the notice this agreement requires, and they stay responsible for their share until whatever point you agreed — commonly until a replacement is approved. Leaving does not remove them from the lease, so they may still be exposed to the landlord until the landlord releases them.
Can we bring in a new roommate ourselves?
Only if the lease allows it. Most require the landlord's approval, and moving someone in without it is usually a breach by everyone on the lease — including the roommate who had nothing to do with arranging it.
Do we need this if we are friends?
That is the most common reason people skip it and the most common reason it turns out to be needed. Rent split, deposit contributions, and who pays which bill are the three things that cause almost every roommate dispute, and they are easiest to agree before anyone has moved in.
Related documents and guides
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Last reviewed July 29, 2026.