Make your Free Roommate Agreement

A Roommate Agreement is a document intended to help maintain the peace between co-inhabitants by clearly outlining everyone's obligations with regard to the arrangement. Whether you are moving in with someone you've known for a short or a long period of time, it is better to put together a list of house rules and clearly defined expectations before any potential issues arise. Roommate Agreement documents help you start off your new living arrangement with everyone clearly aware of their responsibilities.

All Roommate Agreements should include at least the following:

• Address of the property to be shared
• Contact information for all parties, including landlord and or property manager
• Dates the contract begins and ends
• Rent amounts and due dates

Additional issues that can be covered include:

• Cleaning & maintenance responsibilities
• Utilities
• Insurance
• Groceries & other household expenses
• Parking
• Alcohol consumption policy/limitations
• Quiet hours

Because this Roommate Agreement is personal to your unique living situation, you can include any major items that you want to commit to upholding. You are not limited to the listed items above.

It's simple to make a Roommate Rental Agreement with Rocket Lawyer's free template. Simply answer each of the questions in the step-by-step interview process to automatically populate your information. When you're done, you can save, download, print, and sign you agreement.

In most cases, the financial part of the Roommate Contract can be enforced through the courts if necessary. But the house rules are often not legally enforceable. If a roommate doesn't pay their portion of the rent or moves out with rent owed, other roommates can take that matter to the courts or mediator. However, even if house rules are not enforceable, it is still beneficial for everyone to make them.

The benefit of making a Roommate Agreement is that you have a legally binding document in place should a disagreement arise. The document also presents the opportunity to discuss any potential pain points and to have in-depth conversations about the shared living space you are moving into.

A Roommate Agreement allows you to spend time discussing things such as health concerns, emotional triggers, interior design, and personal property. For example, if someone in the home suffers from severe allergies, you may include guidelines about restricting certain allergens (pets, etc.). You could also include explicit guidelines about personal property that roommates will not be sharing, such as expensive music equipment, sports equipment, or other personal items such as electronics.

A Lease Agreement is between tenants and the landlord or property manager. A Roommate Agreement is between the people who choose to live together. While the Roommate Agreement may discuss rent and utilities, they often include additional information that is not included in the Lease Agreement.

A roommate is any person that is sharing a living space, regardless of classification. Co-living with other individuals or families, doubled-up households and living with roommates is becoming increasingly common particularly in areas with high costs of living.

A Rental Agreement is a good way to keep relationships running smoothly and to keep the property adequately maintained. These contracts can cover more than just financial agreements. You can also use them to define cleaning expectations, noise restrictions, guest visitation rules and more.