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Key points
- Find out how the home is being rented: one lease for the whole unit signed by everyone, or separate arrangements. The person who signs is the person the landlord can hold to the lease.
- Read whether the lease makes each signer responsible for the full rent. If it does, one roommate's unpaid share can become everyone's problem.
- Put the arrangements among roommates in writing: rent shares, utility accounts, deposit shares, house rules and notice before leaving. The landlord is not bound by that agreement, but it settles most questions among you.
- A shared unit's security deposit is capped at one month's rent in total, however many people pay into it. Keep a record of who paid what.
- Moving out does not end a signer's obligations. Replacing a roommate takes the landlord's agreement and a written change.
Who signs, and for what
Shared housing can be rented in more than one way. All the roommates may sign one lease for the whole unit. One person may sign and the others live there by arrangement with that person. Or each person may rent a room under a separate agreement. Find out which the landlord is offering before anyone pays, because the people who sign are the people the landlord can hold to the lease.
If everyone signs one lease, read how it describes responsibility for rent. Some leases make each tenant responsible for the whole rent and all the lease terms, often with wording such as "jointly and severally". Under a clause like that, if one roommate does not pay a share, the landlord may look to any signer for the full amount, and the roommates are left to settle what they owe each other. If the wording is unclear, ask a lawyer before signing.
Without a lease, a month-to-month arrangement is a tenancy at will. With rent paid monthly, it can be ended by notice given 30 days or one month before the next rent due date, whichever is longer. When several people share one tenancy at will, ask the landlord in writing how a notice from just one of you would be handled.
A written agreement among roommates
The lease governs the relationship between the landlord and the tenants. It usually says little about how roommates split costs or share space. A short written agreement among roommates, signed before move-in, covers that gap. It does not change what anyone owes the landlord, but it gives everyone a clear record of what was agreed.
Rent shares often differ by room size or a private bathroom. Write each person's share as a dollar amount, and who sends the payment to the landlord. For utilities and internet, write whose name each account is in and how and when the others pay their share, since the account holder is the one the company bills.
Shared space needs rules too: cleaning, quiet hours, guests and overnight stays, and shared purchases. Check the lease first. Its limits on occupants, guests, pets or subletting apply to everyone, and a roommate agreement cannot loosen them.
The deposit when several people pay it
At the start of a tenancy, a landlord may ask for no more than the first month's rent, the last month's rent, a security deposit of up to one month's rent, and the cost of a new lock and key. For a shared unit, the deposit cap is one month's rent for the unit, not one month per roommate.
The landlord must give a signed receipt when the deposit is paid, and within 30 days a receipt naming the Massachusetts bank and its location, the account number and the amount. The landlord must also give a separate statement of the unit's condition, on receiving the deposit or within 10 days after the tenancy begins, whichever is later. Tenants have 15 days from receiving it or moving in, whichever is later, to sign it or return a list of damage they find. Damage recorded there cannot later be deducted from the deposit, so every roommate should check the statement before it goes back.
The deposit earns interest for the tenants, at 5 percent a year or the lower rate the bank actually paid, paid each year or credited against rent. At the end of the tenancy, the landlord has 30 days to return the deposit and interest, less only what the law allows: unpaid rent or water charges not validly withheld, a tax increase under a valid lease clause, and the reasonable cost of repairing damage beyond normal wear and tear, backed by a sworn, itemized list and written evidence of the cost. The 30 days run from the end of the tenancy, not from the day one roommate moves out early. Record each person's share of the deposit so the refund and interest can be divided the same way.
When a roommate wants to leave early
Moving out does not end what a signer agreed to. A roommate who leaves before the lease ends stays responsible under it unless the landlord agrees to release them. The roommates who stay remain bound by the lease as well, including any clause that makes each of them responsible for the full rent.
The lease decides which options are open. The landlord may agree to take the departing roommate off the lease and add a replacement, with the newcomer applying and everyone signing the change in writing. Or the departing roommate may sublet their space, which most leases allow only with the landlord's written consent. In a sublet, the original tenant remains responsible to the landlord if the subtenant does not pay. Moving someone in without the landlord's consent risks an eviction case for violating the lease.
Decide in writing what happens to the departing roommate's share of the deposit. The landlord may return that share and collect the same amount from the newcomer, or the deposit may stay in the account while the newcomer pays the departing roommate directly. The second way is a private arrangement among you: it does not change what the landlord holds or owes at the end of the tenancy, so write it down and let the landlord know. Either way, the total deposit for the unit still cannot exceed one month's rent.
Roommate agreement checklist
Write it once, have everyone sign, and keep a copy each.
- Who signed the lease, and whether it makes each signer responsible for the full rent
- Each person's monthly rent share in dollars, and who pays the landlord
- Whose name each utility and internet account is in, and when the others pay their share
- Each person's share of the security deposit and of any last month's rent paid in advance
- House rules on cleaning, quiet hours, guests and shared purchases, consistent with the lease
- How much notice a roommate gives the others before leaving, and how a replacement is put to the landlord
- How a departing roommate's deposit share is settled
This guide describes common arrangements for shared rentals in Massachusetts. Your lease decides what you owe the landlord; for questions about liability or ending a tenancy, talk to a lawyer or a legal services organization.