You’re going to be responsible for the entire tab. When two people are on the same lease, all tenants are responsible independently for paying the entire month’s rent – there’s usually a clause in the lease stating this. If your roommate skips town, you’re out of luck. Same goes for damages – if your roommate decided to knock down a wall down when you were at work, you can also be evicted and forced to foot the bill.

Hi Susie,

It’s always important that if you are living with someone that they have co-signed the lease directly with property management. If you had previously leased the apartment and are bringing in a roommate, you can contact the property to modify your lease by adding your roommate, or you can have your roommate sign a lease agreement directly with you. If you choose to do the latter, you are still legally obligated to make the entire rental payment to property management each month and would have to pursue legal action on your own accord against your roommate for failure to pay.

If your roommate has co-signed the lease with you, it would most likely be the responsibility of property management to take such legal action. However, it’s also important to read your lease thoroughly for any clauses that may put the obligation back on the other co-signer, should one of you fail to pay. Laws may also vary from state to state so we recommend checking with your landlord and doing your leasing homework to determine potential legal ramifications of this type of situation in advance.

Lastly, because utilities are often in an individual’s name, there may be no real protection for you if the utility is taken out in your name and your roommate refuses to pay. This is one of the reasons why it’s important to think through how each of you can contribute to sourcing and paying for utilities in advance.