Your lease is a contract between the tenants and the landlord. It covers rent, the term, what you may and may not do in the apartment, and what happens if the rent is late.
It is silent on almost everything that actually causes arguments between roommates. Who pays which bill. Whether someone's partner staying four nights a week is a guest. What happens to the deposit when one person leaves in April. Who replaces the person who leaves.
A roommate agreement is a written agreement between roommates, separate from the lease, that covers money, guests, deposits and what happens when someone leaves. For Boston renters sharing a lease, it covers what the lease leaves out.
Why write a roommate agreement?
Many roommate disputes come down to money and expectations between people who never wrote anything down, and who each remember the conversation differently.
Putting a roommate agreement in writing before you move in does two useful things. It forces the awkward conversations to happen while everyone is still being reasonable, and it creates a record you can point at later instead of arguing from memory.
The agreement is between you. The landlord is not a party to it and generally does not need a copy.
Does a roommate agreement protect you from the landlord?
A roommate agreement does not change what the landlord can ask of you. It settles things between roommates only.
Under a standard shared lease, each tenant is typically liable for the entire rent, not a share of it. A roommate agreement saying "we each pay a third" is an agreement between the three of you. It does not bind the landlord and it does not reduce anyone's exposure under the lease.
So if a roommate stops paying, under a standard shared lease you can still be pursued for the full amount, regardless of what your agreement says. What the agreement gives you is a written record of what they committed to, which is useful between you. It is not a shield against the landlord. The lease side is covered in applying for a Boston apartment with roommates.
Write it carefully anyway. Its job is to prevent disputes between roommates.
What should a roommate agreement include?
A roommate agreement should settle eight things: rent split and due dates, the deposit at move-out, shared costs, guests, quiet hours and common space, chores or cleaning, exit notice, and leaving early.
| Clause | What it settles | The failure it prevents |
|---|---|---|
| Rent split and due dates | Who pays how much, to whom, by when | One person paying the landlord late because another paid them late |
| Deposit at move-out | How the deposit is divided, and who buys out whom if someone leaves early | A common roommate argument, usually a year after anyone remembers the details |
| Shared costs | Which utilities and subscriptions are shared, how they are split, who holds each account | The person whose name is on the electric bill chasing everyone every month |
| Guests | How long someone can stay, within what the lease allows, before it needs discussing | A partner gradually moving in without anyone agreeing to it |
| Quiet hours and common space | Basic expectations about noise and shared rooms | Low-level resentment that surfaces as something else |
| Chores or cleaning | Whether there is a cleaning schedule or a shared cleaner, and who pays | Ongoing arguments over who cleans |
| Exit notice | How much warning someone must give before leaving | Someone announcing they are leaving with almost no warning |
| Leaving early | Who finds and vets a candidate for the landlord to approve, and what the leaver owes until then | Someone leaving in month four and assuming it is now your problem |
Write the numbers down, date it, and have everyone sign. A dated document that three people signed is worth considerably more than a group chat six months later.
Which roommate agreement clause gets left out?
Exit notice. An exit notice clause sets how much warning a roommate must give before leaving. It is often left out, and its absence causes real problems.
Without it, somebody can announce on the first of the month that they are leaving on the fifteenth, and the people remaining have two weeks to find a candidate and get the landlord to approve them, while covering a share they did not budget for.
Agree on a notice period in advance, such as 30 days, and agree on what the departing person owes if they cannot give it. A notice clause only governs the money between you. It does not release anyone from the lease. Pair it with the leaving-early clause so it is clear who runs the replacement search.
Finding a replacement is not the same as removing someone from the lease. That requires the landlord, and it takes longer than people expect.
When should you write a roommate agreement?
Write a roommate agreement before you move in, ideally before you sign the lease.
If you are still apartment hunting, you can search Boston apartments by area on Spot Easy, where every agent is verified before listings go live.
The leverage to agree on reasonable terms is greatest while everyone still wants the apartment. Once you are living there, raising the subject can feel like an accusation, and the person you most need to settle a clause with is usually the person least interested in discussing it.
If you are already living together without one, writing it now is still better than not. Frame it as housekeeping rather than as a response to something.
What should a roommate agreement say when one roommate leaves?
A roommate agreement should say what happens when one roommate leaves, and many do not.
At minimum, write down who pays the outgoing person their share of the deposit, and when. We cover how the deposit usually moves when a roommate is replaced, including what happens to the landlord's deposit, in replacing a roommate mid-lease. Agreeing on the number in advance avoids a negotiation at the worst possible moment.
Also agree whether the agreement itself continues. A sensible default is that it stays in force and the incoming person signs it, with any numbers updated.
Is a roommate agreement enforceable?
We are not going to say whether a roommate agreement is enforceable, because the honest answer depends on your agreement, your circumstances and what exactly went wrong.
A roommate agreement is a private agreement between adults. Its practical value is mostly preventive. It stops disputes by settling things in advance and creating a record. If you are at the point of asking whether you can enforce it against someone, that is a question for an attorney or a small-claims self-help service, with your actual document in hand.
You should still write one.
FAQ
Does a roommate agreement protect me if my roommate stops paying rent? Not from the landlord. Under a standard shared lease you can still be pursued for the full rent. It gives you a written record of what your roommate agreed to, which matters between the two of you.
Does my landlord need a copy? Generally no. It is an agreement between the roommates and the landlord is not a party to it.
Should we use a template? A clause list like the one in this post is more useful than a generic form, because the point is to decide the specifics together. If you want something formal, have a professional look at it rather than relying on a download.