When renting with roommates there are several potential pit falls that one must be aware of:
- What happens if I do not get along with my roommate and we want to split up?
- Can one of us remain at the property and can one of us leave?
- What if my roommate is not financially responsible and cannot pay the rent what do I do?
- What if my roommate bails and just moves out how does that work with my landlord?
- What if my roommate gets transferred for work can I find a new roommate and replace them?
- What if neither of us can afford the property and we want to both go our separate ways in the middle of the lease can we terminate our lease early?
- What if my roommate is violating the rules and regulations of the property, what are my remedies?
- What if my roommate has loud parties, plays loud music, eats my food, and we are just not getting along, what options do I have?
- What if my roommate is my boyfriend or girlfriend and we break up, what do I do?
- Can I just cancel my lease if my roommates and I are not getting along?
These are all very good questions and common circumstances when you have a roommate situation. The following are some helpful tips to be aware of when renting with a roommate and dealing with mitigating potential exposure of what we would call a situation where roommates are just not getting along or need to separate.
There is no question that there is a risk when renting with a roommate which is why it is important to make sure that you and your roommate have similar goals, objectives, and desires in terms of your living environment. These discussions should happen on the front end and a clear understanding of who pays for what expenses, how do we split the rent, what utilities are in each person’s name, and which roommate will be the point of contact in dealing with the property manager or landlord. We strongly recommend that there is a single point of contact when having a roommate situation so that there is no confusion and not multiple cooks in the kitchen when questions or issues arise. We have had many instances when one roommate is not communicating with the other and therefore, vital information about the lease or maintenance related items do not get conveyed appropriately. This creates communication issues and confusion.
We strongly recommend that you provide your landlord with complete information including contact, phone numbers, emails, etc. for all roommates so that in the event that they are unable to reach one roommate in the event of an emergency or issue that they can contact the others to make sure that you are fully informed. In instances where roommates need to separate in the middle of a lease this can create a complicated situation or can be a very simple solution depending on how it is approached. In the case of Saywitz Properties we are open to what we call “Roommate Switch Application” where we can add, remove, or switch a roommate with a very simple process. This would include the new roommate completing the appropriate rental application which would be approved by the landlord and we have a simple addendum to the existing lease which all parties would sign effectively making the switch, add, or change. The remaining terms of the lease that were in place previously would all stay in place.
In this scenario there is no need for a new lease or extensive documentation and in many instances, there is no cost to the tenant to complete this process other than any application fees.
The situation becomes more complicated when neither roommate wants to vacate the apartment, and both agree that they cannot live with each other going forward. Another complicating situation would be when one roommate has left or would like to leave and the other cannot afford the property without their financial assistance and does not have a replacement roommate.
In these instances, there are solutions to either having the landlord find a replace tenant for you, you look for a new roommate via Craigslist, other internet sources, or your own personal contacts. You can also to negotiate some sort of termination with the landlord that is mutually acceptable.
In these instances what is not acceptable is that you cannot just arbitrarily terminate the lease because you and your boyfriend/girlfriend broke up. You are both financially responsible for all of the terms and conditions in the lease and all of the costs. When you sign the lease “joint and severally” what this means is that you are both responsible for 100% of the rent in the event that the other person does not pay. Therefore, it is imperative that while you and your roommate may not be getting along or may not agree on everything that you must agree on one thing which is to stay current on the lease otherwise both parties will be in default and both parties will pay the consequences. This may include a legal judgement affecting or damaging your credit. It is simply not an acceptable answer to say I paid my portion of the rent so go after my roommates for theirs. You are connected as one and must deal with the circumstances as a single entity. While this may be difficult to do at times it does force both parties to attempt to be financially responsible and resolve the situation.
In those extreme instances where you are not communicating with the other roommate and that roommate is also not communicating with the landlord you can have a discussion with the landlord about being removed from the lease. This may bear some financial cost but may be better than being responsible for 100% of what is outstanding.
The simple answer with respects to Saywitz Properties and its approach to roommates is that we are more than willing to work with roommates to try to accommodate their ongoing issues of adding, subtracting, or sorting out the differences between roommates. However, as roommates your personal issues financial or otherwise are not the responsibility of the landlord to solve this is the responsibility that you signed up for when you executed the lease together.
Our best recommendation when having roommate issues is to set-up an appointment with the property manager to try and talk through whatever issues exist with all parties present to come up with a cohesive plan of action, whatever that may be. More communication here is better than less, as the goal of all the parties should be to figure out a solution and execute it quickly with the least amount of exposure for all parties.