Renting with Roommates
When you sign a lease, you enter into a legally binding contract. This is also true if you sign a lease with roommates. Everyone who signs the lease is equally responsible for any damage caused to the rental unit and for paying the rent in full and on time. Be careful who you choose to be your roommate.
It is a good idea to sign a Roommate Agreement before moving in. The agreement can cover things like:
- Rules about guests, smoking, and shared spaces,
- How you will split the rent and utilities payments, and
- Who will clean the rental unit and when.
A roommate agreement will not change your lease, but having a written agreement can help to prevent disagreements and make it easier to resolve issues when they come up.
Problems between roommates are common. Unfortunately, unlike other tenancy issues, the Tenant and Landlord Relations Office (TLRO) will not help settle a dispute between you and your roommate. The TLRO will only get involved in disputes between tenants and landlords.
If you have a problem with your roommate, it will be up to the two of you to resolve your issue.
If your roommate refuses to pay rent
If you and your roommate both signed your lease, you are equally responsible to pay rent. If your roommate does not pay their share, you may be responsible to pay the full amount yourself. If this happens, tell your landlord.
Unless your landlord offers a solution, you have 4 options:
- Speak to your roommate and see if there is an arrangement that works for both of you,
- Try to find someone to take your roommate’s place on the lease (if your landlord and your lease allow it),
- Pay your roommate’s share of the rent, or
- Try to end your lease and find a new place to live. Be careful. Depending on your type of lease, you may still need to pay rent until the end of your lease.
If you end up paying your roommate’s share of the rent, you can sue your roommate in Small Claims Court to get that money back. You can use Small Claims Court for any amount up to $20,000.
If your roommate causes damage to your rental unit
If you and your roommate both signed your lease, you are both equally responsible for preventing and fixing any damage that any roommate causes to the unit. This means that you are responsible for fixing the damage, even if you did not cause the damage yourself.
Unless your landlord offers a solution, you have 4 options:
- Speak to your roommate and ask them fix the damage or pay to have it fixed,
- Split the cost of the damage between roommates,
- Let the cost of fixing the damage come out of your security deposit, or
- Pay to fix the damage yourself. If you do, you can sue your roommate in Small Claims Court to get your money back as long as it is less than $20,000 in total.
If only one of your roommates signs the lease and pays rent to the landlord, that person is the legal tenant. The people living in the unit that did not sign the lease:
- Have no legal responsibility for the rental unit,
- Do not have to give notice to move out, and
- Have no legal rights under the Residential Tenancies Act.
Once your lease ends, you can ask for your security deposit back. You and your roommates should apply for your security deposit refund as soon as possible. You have two options:
- If you, your roommates, and your landlord all agree on how much of your deposit you should get back, complete the Security Deposit Refund Agreement together and email it to irent@snb.ca or deliver it to any Service New Brunswick Centre. To receive your refund, it is very important that all roommates sign their names and include their forwarding addresses on the last page of this application.
- Apply for the return of your full security deposit online or in person at any Service New Brunswick Centre. Each roommate must submit their own application. The TLRO will contact you if your landlord disagrees with your application and claims part of your deposit.
If there are two or more tenants on a lease, the security deposit will be refunded equally amongst those tenants.