Room Rental Agreement

1. Describe the room and what is shared. Name the room clearly ("second-floor back bedroom") and list the shared areas - kitchen, bathroom, laundry, yard - so there is no argument later about what the lodger may use.
2. Set the money terms. Month to month or a fixed term, the monthly rent and the day it is due, the deposit, and whether utilities are in the rent or split.
3. Write your house rules, then sign. Agree on the rules before move-in, print two copies, and both sign. Each keeps one.

A lease usually rents a whole home or apartment, and the tenant controls it. A room rental agreement rents one room inside a home the owner (or the main tenant) still lives in, with shared use of the kitchen, bathroom and other areas. That is why it covers things a lease does not: which areas are shared, house rules, quiet hours, guests and when the owner may enter the room. If you rent out a separate unit with its own entrance and kitchen, use a regular lease instead.

Yes, a lot. Some states treat a lodger in an owner-occupied home differently from a tenant - California, for example, has a separate, faster procedure for removing a single lodger who lives in the owner's home - while in other states a lodger has most of the same rights as any tenant, including the formal eviction process. Notice periods, deposit limits, deposit return deadlines and late fee rules also vary. Check your state's landlord-tenant law (and your city's, if it has its own rules) and enter the notice days, deposit and any late fee to match it.

If you are the main tenant rather than the owner, read your own lease first: many leases do not allow renting out a room without the landlord's written consent.

Write down anything you would be annoyed to argue about later. The usual list:

Keep them specific ("guests no more than 2 nights a week") rather than general ("be considerate"). If you change them later, write the change down and both sign it.

It depends on your state: some cap a security deposit at a set number of months' rent, some have no cap, and many set a deadline and rules for returning it with a list of deductions. A common choice for a room is one month's rent. The agreement says the deposit is not the last month's rent and will be returned, less unpaid rent and damage beyond normal wear and tear, within the time your state's law requires. Enter 0 if you do not take a deposit.

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