Let Homies keep score for you
Do you really need a roommate agreement?
The lease already exists, so this feels redundant. It isn't. The lease binds you to the landlord: it says who owes rent to whom and when you can be kicked out. It says nothing about what happens inside the apartment, like whether the deposit comes back to the person who fronted it, or how many nights a partner stays before they're effectively a resident who doesn't pay.
An agreement isn't about distrust. It's about timing: writing things down forces decisions while everyone still likes each other. "We'll figure it out" really means "we'll decide this during a fight", and decisions made mid-fight are worse for everyone. Twenty minutes with a shared doc before move-in buys you a year of not negotiating from anger.
What should a roommate agreement cover?
Keep it to one page. A ten-page contract is theater; a one-pager people actually remember is a tool. Eight clauses cover nearly everything roommates fight about, and half of them take one sentence each.
Anything you skip becomes a default nobody agreed to. No guest clause means the most tolerant roommate sets the policy by silence. No moving-out clause means the person leaving picks their own notice period. Write the clause now or accept whatever happens later.
| Clause | What it settles |
|---|---|
| Rent and split | Who pays what, by which method, by what date |
| Deposit | Who paid in, and what it covers at move-out |
| Utilities | Whose name on each bill, how it's split, settle-up day |
| Chores | The rotation, and what "done" means |
| Guests | How many nights before a guest becomes a resident |
| Quiet hours | When the living room stops being a venue |
| Shared stuff | What's communal, what's borrowed, who owns the couch |
| Moving out | Notice period, finding a replacement, who keeps what |
How do you write the money clauses?
Use exact numbers and dates, not principles. "Rent is ₪7,500: Dana pays ₪2,900 for the master, Yoni and Tal pay ₪2,300 each, due to Dana by the 1st, she transfers to the landlord on the 3rd." That sentence settles more arguments than a paragraph about fairness ever will. If your rooms differ in size, settle the split method first (even, by room size, or by income) and write down the result, not just the method.
The deposit clause matters more than anyone thinks, because it's settled at the worst possible moment: move-out, when someone's already half gone. Write down who paid in, how much, and the rule for damage (whoever broke it pays; normal wear comes out of the shared pot; disputes split evenly). Add one line for recurring bills: whose name the electricity and internet are under, and which day of the month everyone squares up. While you're at it, write the missed-payment line — what happens, and by when, if someone's share doesn't arrive — the clause you'll be glad exists if you ever face a roommate not paying rent.
Last money line: the boring shared supplies. Toilet paper, dish soap, trash bags. Either they go on the shared expense pile like everything else, or one person buys and resents. Pick the first one.
What house rules actually prevent fights?
Guests is the big one, and it's really one number: how many nights a week can someone's partner stay before it's a conversation? Common answers are two or three. Past that, a fourth person is using the shower, the wifi, and the couch, and only three people are paying. Agreeing on the number up front turns "your boyfriend basically lives here" from an accusation into a clause reference.
Quiet hours work when they match real schedules, not aspirations. If one person has 7am shifts, weeknights after 23:00 are quiet and everyone knows it. Shared stuff needs one default: is food communal unless labeled, or private unless offered? Either rule works. Having no rule is how the last of someone's milk becomes a cold war. For the full everyday list — trash, common areas, heads-ups — here are the house rules for roommates that actually matter; the agreement itself only needs the few with money attached.
Don't legislate bedrooms. Private mess is private; the agreement covers shared space only. Rules that reach into someone's own room don't get followed, and they poison the rules that should.
How do you make the agreement stick?
A signed PDF dies in a drawer. That's fine for the clauses you hope never to use (deposit, moving out), but the parts of the agreement that move every week, money, chores, and shopping, need a system that runs without anyone re-reading a document.
Start with the free template at the top of this page: fill in your numbers tonight, sign it, and the constitution exists. Then hand the moving parts to an app like Homies, the daily ledger that runs them automatically: the rent split you agreed becomes a recurring expense that posts itself, the chore clause becomes a rotation that hands tasks to the next person on schedule, with checklists defining "done" the way your agreement does, and the supplies clause becomes a shared list with the receipt split across the home. The agreement sets the rules once; the app means nobody has to enforce them. Homies is one app for the whole household on iPhone and Android, currently in closed beta: join now to get in early — free while we build it, with one signup for the whole home.
Frequently asked questions
Is a roommate agreement legally binding?
Parts of it can be: clear money promises between adults (deposit shares, agreed rent splits) are the kind of thing small-claims courts recognize in many places. But its real power is social, not legal. It turns "I assumed" into "we agreed", which resolves most fights before anyone thinks about courts. For obligations to the landlord, the lease itself is what binds.
When should roommates write the agreement?
Before move-in, or in the first week, while goodwill is at its peak and nobody has a grievance yet. Writing it after the first fight still helps, but now every clause reads like it's aimed at someone.
What's a fair guest policy for roommates?
The common rule: a partner staying two to three nights a week is a guest; more than that is a conversation about contributing. The exact number matters less than having one, because without it the most tolerant roommate silently sets the policy for everyone.
What if a roommate breaks the agreement?
Point at the clause, not the person: "we agreed dishes go before bed" lands very differently from "you're a slob". Name it the first time, not the fifth. For repeat cases, agree on an escalation up front, like a house meeting or a revised clause, so enforcement is a system instead of a confrontation.
Does an app replace a roommate agreement?
No, they do different jobs. The agreement settles the rules once: the split, the guest number, the deposit. An app runs the parts that move every week. Homies takes the rules you agreed and keeps them running: balances that settle in one tap, chores that rotate on schedule, one shared shopping list. It's in closed beta on iOS and Android: join now to get in early, free through the beta, with one signup that covers the household.
Let Homies keep score for you
What these guides set up by hand, the app runs on its own: the chore chart fills itself, balances settle in a tap, and the shopping list stays current for everyone. Homies is in closed beta now: join and you're in early, free while we build it.