Virginia Roommate Agreement
The Virginia Roommate Agreement is a document used for addressing how certain matters in a shared household, such as cleaning and utility payments, will be carried out by the tenants who are sharing it. It gives everyone the opportunity to bring up sticky issues in a more comfortable context. For instance, talking about the fact that all members need to pitch in with housework can quickly become awkward if it is brought up by one roommate to another seemingly out of the blue. Whereas, addressing it in a more general way as part of the move-in procedure makes doing so less confronting and accusatory.
How to Complete
Step 1 – Download
Download the contract: Adobe PDF | Microsoft Word (.docx)
Step 2 – Parties
Enter the date the agreement is being completed.
Write the names of the tenants that will be sharing the property. If there are less than four (4) roommates, the excess fields can be left blank. If there are more, use the Word version to add an additional field for each tenant.
Step 3 – Address
Enter the 1) full address, 2) apartment number, and 3) city in which the property is located.
Step 4 – Contract Length
Enter the date that the contract will begin on, followed by the start and end dates of the lease.
Step 5 – Security Deposit
Write (or type) the total cost of the security deposit for the property. Then, enter each roommate’s portion of the sec. deposit they agree to pay. The value should be in equal increments for each tenant.
Step 6 – Rent
Enter the following:
- Cost of the monthly rent (in total)
- What fraction of the rent each roommate pays
- What the fraction amounts to in dollars ($)
- The total amount of rent to be paid for the entire lease (monthly rent X number of months renting)
- The total amount of rent each tenant is responsible for
Step 7 – Utilities
The fraction each tenant will be required to pay will be entered into the first field. For any additional utilities, enter them into the field provided.
Step 8 – Rules
Beneath the statement regarding moving out, the tenants should come together to form rules and guidelines pertaining to the topics listed (food, cleaning, privacy, noise, parties, smoking/drugs, etc.)
This section, by far, is the most important of the agreement. Do NOT have any tenants sign the form until every roommate has gone through the rules has stated their agreement with them.
Step 9 – Signatures
Above the signature fields, enter the name of the city (in Virginia) that the property is located. Then, input the date that the parties are signing their names (officially putting the contract into effect).n
Each tenant will need to 1) write their printed name, and 2) write their signature in the space to the right of their name. The agreement is now complete – a copy should be made and given to each tenant.