Question:
My friend (24) and her boyfriend (28) are about to sign a lease and will have another roommate (22, male). The boyfriend knows this person from work, but they don't know this person very well. I know in the past whenever I roomed with someone I didn't know very well, it never worked out and I always ended up with larger bills than I expected and I don't want this to happen to my friend. Is there any kind of agreement that would be binding if the roommate decides to leave in the middle of the lease that would hold him responsible for his portion of the rent? Has anyone had this problem before and wished they would of handled it differently? Or if you were able to prevent such a problem, what did you do? Thanks for any suggestions!
Answers:
Yes, during college 4 of us girls rented a house and wow it got crazy. Now 20 years later I would be glad to give you the benefit of 20/20 hind site. GET IT WRITING, ALL OF IT! Including parties, pets, overnight stays by other parties, utilities, parking, food, even privacy. You don't need a legal form (but you can find one at www.freelegalforms.com) it can simply be typed up to cover all possibilities while everyone is friendly and on good terms. Everybody must be given a copy
I almost lost a very good friend over it so be careful. Below is a pretty good website for covering potential room mate issues that you may not have considered yet. Hope this helps and good luck!
1) Write it down and have everyone sign it. Paper holds up in court, verbal agreements are harder to verify
2) Include EVERYONE on the lease
3) Figure out who is going to pay for what. Is there going to a grocery stack that you ALL can eat from? If so, there needs to be a money pot. Budget, budget, budget.
Basically, just be sure to get EVERYTHING in writing. If that means including that if he breaks his lease early, he has to pay the reminder of the rent in full AND utilities, then include it. If you want to make sure that the guy that no one really knows that well sticks to the deal, make sure he and EVERYONE signs the contract.
Also, remember to include other things like drugs, parties, etc. You want it to be inforceable.
draw up an agreement with EVERYONE present. it should be month to month lease with a one month in advance notice in case someone wants to stop romming(that should give the other party(s) enough time to search for a third person). Be fair and always split all expenses 3 ways. Lots of luck and try and stay out of each other's way :)
Hire a lawyer, and make everybody sign a contract.
Basically, like others listed above, write up a contract with specific terms and have everyone sign and date the contract. To be on the safe side, you may want to take this to your local notary public (banks should have them) to get notarized.
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