What to put in a room rental agreement

Renting out a spare room is one of the few ways to add income without picking up a second job. The house is already yours and the room is already there. What makes it work or fall apart is not the room. It's whether you and the person living in it agreed on things in advance, and wrote them down.

A room rental agreement is just that written record. It covers one room in a place where other people, often including you, already live. That makes it different from a normal lease, which covers a whole unit and usually assumes the landlord lives somewhere else.

Why write one at all

Most disagreements between a host and a housemate are not about anything dramatic. They are about who said what, months ago, when everyone was being agreeable. How much notice before someone moves out. Whether the deposit covers that stain on the carpet. Who was supposed to pay for internet. A written agreement means nobody has to remember.

It protects the person renting too. Without one, they have no record of what the rent was supposed to be, when you can come into the room, or what happens to their deposit. That cuts both ways and it is worth saying to them out loud.

What goes in it

The specifics vary and some of them are set by state law, which is worth reading before you fill in numbers. But the list of things to cover is basically the same everywhere.

• Who is involved. You, the person renting, and any other adult who lives there. Everyone who is party to it signs it.
• Which room, and what is shared. Name the room. Then say what counts as shared space: kitchen, bathroom, laundry, garage, yard. This is the part people skip and then argue about.
• How long. A start date, and either an end date or a note that it runs month to month. Say how much notice each of you gives to end it.
• Rent. The amount, the day it's due, and how it gets paid. If the first month is partial, say what that comes to.
• Late rent. Whether there's a late fee and what it is. If there isn't one, write that down too, so it doesn't come up later.
• Deposit. How much, and what has to happen for them to get it back. State law limits the amount and sets the timeline for returning it, so check yours.
• Utilities and bills. Which ones are included in rent and which get split. If they're split, say how, and when they pay you.
• Coming into the room. How much notice you'll give and what for. Repairs, showing the room, an emergency. The rules here depend on your setup and on state law, so settle it in writing rather than guessing later.
• House rules. Guests, overnight visitors, noise, smoking, pets, cooking, quiet hours. Keep these about behavior in the house. Not about who a person is.
• Signatures and the date. Both of you sign. Both of you keep a copy. A photo of a signed page on someone's phone has settled a lot of arguments.

One line that saves the most trouble later: write down the condition of the room on the day someone moves in, with photos. Then nobody is arguing from memory when the deposit comes up.

A room agreement, a lease, and a roommate agreement are three things

People use these words interchangeably and they aren't the same. A room rental agreement is between you and the person renting one room. A lease usually covers a whole place. A roommate agreement is between the people living together, not with the owner, and covers the day to day stuff: whose turn it is to buy toilet paper, how loud is too loud, what the thermostat sits at.

You can have both. A lot of shared houses do. The written agreement handles money and the room. The roommate agreement handles living together.

Before you post the room

Two things to check first, because both can stop the whole plan. Find out whether your city lets you rent a room where you live, and whether it wants you to register or get an inspection. And check your homeowner's insurance, because renting a room can change your coverage and your insurer will want to know.

Then decide whether the room comes furnished. It changes who applies. A furnished room is easier for someone moving from out of town or staying a few months. An empty one tends to bring people who are settling in for longer.

Doing it on Unido

When you post a room on Unido, the listing already asks for most of this: rent, deposit, utilities, how many people the room holds, your house rules. When you accept someone, we build the agreement from what you already filled in, and you both sign it here and keep a copy. There's also a move-in checklist for the photos. It's free, and you can also ignore all of it and write your own.