Roommates and Money: Agreements Between Friends
Aligned to JS:FD-18 — Jump$tart National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education & Advance CTE Career Clusters.
What this lesson teaches
Living with friends ends badly far more often over money than over dishes, and almost always because nothing was written down. A written agreement between roommates is not a sign of distrust — it is the thing that lets you stay friends when someone loses a job, brings home a partner, or decides to move out four months into a twelve-month lease.
Worked examples
Example 1
Understand what you actually signed. On most leases roommates are jointly and severally liable, which means the landlord can pursue any one of you for the entire rent, not just your share. If your roommate stops paying, the landlord's problem is solved by collecting from you — so their reliability is not a personality question, it is a financial exposure you agreed to.
Example 2
Write down five things before anyone moves in: who pays what share and by which date, whose name each utility is in, what happens to the deposit when someone leaves, how much notice is required to move out, and how guests who stay for weeks are handled. One page, signed, is enough.
Example 3
Common mistake: one person paying everything and being repaid. It feels simpler and it makes that person the lender, the collector and the one whose credit is damaged when somebody is late. Split accounts where you can, use a shared record everyone can see, and never let a debt between friends live only in memory.
Practice questions
- Draft a one-page roommate agreement covering rent shares, utilities, deposit, notice, and guests.
- Explain joint and several liability in your own words, and what it means if a roommate leaves early.
- List three conversations you would rather have before signing a lease than six months into one.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
Compañeros de casa y dinero: acuerdos entre amigos
Vivir con amigos termina mal mucho más seguido por dinero que por los trastes, y casi siempre porque nada quedó por escrito. Un acuerdo escrito entre compañeros de casa no es señal de desconfianza — es lo que te permite seguir siendo su amigo cuando alguien pierde el trabajo, trae a su pareja a vivir o decide mudarse al cuarto mes de un contrato de doce.
Ejemplo 1: Entiende qué firmaste en realidad. En la mayoría de los contratos los compañeros tienen responsabilidad solidaria, lo que significa que el arrendador puede cobrarle a cualquiera de ustedes la renta completa, no solo su parte. Si tu compañero deja de pagar, el problema del arrendador se resuelve cobrándote a ti — así que la confiabilidad de esa persona no es una cuestión de carácter, es una exposición financiera que aceptaste.
Ejemplo 2: Anota cinco cosas antes de que alguien se mude: quién paga qué parte y en qué fecha, a nombre de quién está cada servicio, qué pasa con el depósito cuando alguien se va, cuánto aviso se requiere para mudarse y cómo se manejan las visitas que se quedan semanas. Una página, firmada, basta.
Ejemplo 3: Error común: que una persona pague todo y los demás le repongan. Se siente más simple y convierte a esa persona en prestamista, cobradora y en la única cuyo crédito se daña cuando alguien se atrasa. Separen las cuentas donde se pueda, usen un registro compartido que todos vean y nunca dejen que una deuda entre amigos viva solo en la memoria.
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