Hi Shortyc57,
Roommate situations are hard to define in a book of rules. I doubt
you'll find one - and if you do, it probably won't fit your unique
situation. It really depends on the people involved. If it's your
apartment, decide what you're comfortable with and as the article
tispiegel-ga referenced says, get legal. You may feel uncomfotable
asking a roommate to sign an agreement, but it really is just a formal
way to define issues, like... who cleans the bathroom and who buys the
toilet paper. If you write it all down, your potential roommate knows
the groundrules from day one and it makes life a whole lot easier for
both of you. It cuts down on the misunderstandings. If a potential
roomie doesn't like the agreement, you can either make adjustments (in
writing) or find out up front that the situation isn't going to work
out and save yourself a lot of grief.
Generally, if you split the rent evenly, you'll split the expenses and
cleaning as well. What many apartment owners, or lease holders, do is
charge the roommate more than half of the rent - the extra money
covers the cost of items that get used by both of you and a share of
utilities and whatever other joint expenses exist. By charging the
extra in the rent, you avoid squabbles about who should pay for
household items or utilities that both of you use. One word of
caution... never share a phone. Let your roommates use their mobile
phones or get another line that's NOT in your name. If you do have a
phone - keep it in your room. I've heard and lived through too many
extremely expensive horror stories to ever share a phone with anyone I
don't share a joint bank account with.
Hope that's some help.
Regards,
bcguide-ga |
