Texas Tenant Advisor

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The Texas Tenant Advisor is intended to provide general information regarding Texas residential tenancies only.

Unique facts can render some statements inapplicable to a given situation.

We attempt to provide current information; nonetheless, you are urged to consult an attorney for legal advice and assistance.

This web site is a public service of the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service.

Watch video on tenant laws and roommates

Sharing a place with a roommate can be fun and can help reduce the cost of your housing. However, if you have problems with a roomate, and you eventually will, things can get messy.

As far as the landlord is concerned, the persons that signed the lease are the tenants. If you are just living with someone and giving them money to stay there, you may not be considered to be a tenant of the landlord directly (you might be subleasing). If your name is on the lease then you are a tenant of the landlord without question. Of course, the landlord wants as many people as it can to sign the lease because this puts more people responsbile for paying the rent (or more people to pressure into paying). It also wants to approve of all persons living in the unit (landlords typically prohibit subleasing without their permission or having persons living with you without their approval).

Often one roomate has trouble paying the rent, and this is where disputes arise. (We assume that there is nothing in the lease that specifically divides the rent to be paid by different tenants. We have never heard of one, nor seen one.) The landlord is not interested in how the rent is divided; the landlord is only interested in all the rent being paid. For example, if the rent is $800 and there are two roomates and each agrees to split the rent. If one roomate pays and the other does not or moves out, the landlord is not going to be happy even with the one that paid. The landlord will want the rest of the rent and it will not care where it comes from. And, if you signed the lease you are responsible for getting all the money to the landlord, even if you paid your share already. If the landlord does not get all the money, then it can terminate, evict and possibly take other actions like lockout, terminate utilities, and take tenant property (lien).

Even the Texas Apartment Association (TAA) says you should choose your roommates carefully: "If your roommate moves out early or cannot pay the rent, you'll be responsible for the entire amount, unless you've rented on a 'per-bedroom' basis." If you'll be sharing the rent with a roommate, make sure you both understand your responsibilities. If you both sign the lease, each of you will be responsible for the full amount of the rent if the other does not pay. If you need to find another roommate to help with expenses, your new roommate will need to be approved by the property owner, and you may need to sign a new lease or a lease addendum."

Also, if you and your roomate have a disagreement, your landlord probably cannot and will not lockout, evict, or remove your roomate for you. A call to the police will not help in all probability. Police will not find any criminal act -- they would typically consider such a dispute a "civil matter" and not get involved. A tenant can request that the landlord change the locks at the tenant's expense; however, the landlord will have to give the new key to any other tenant on the lease.

So what do you do if you have problems with a roomate? Negotiate a lot and put any deals you reach in writing. If you move out with your name still on the lease the landlord may put something harmful on your credit (especially if you don't pay your share, and your former roomate does not pay either). You also may be liable for damages that occur in the unit (you may want to tell the landlord that you are moving and that you are terminating the lease as it relates to you). See if the landlord will let you out of the lease before you leave. Of course, the landlord may want something, and they usually do -- money. You also might try to find another roomate to take your place, but make sure your old roomate and the landlord consent and take your name off the lease.

If you want to stay, but your roomate is driving you crazy, it may not help to complain to your landlord. Again, your landlord does not care that much so long as the rent is paid. The landlord has nothing to gain by getting involved. You could try to find another roomate to replace the one that is a pain in the neck, but again, you are going to need consent from everyone involved. These are difficult situations to fix easily. Clearly the best plan is not to get involved with a roomate in the beginning.

What happens to the deposit when you move out? Unless it is specifically spelled out in the lease differently, any money that is returned is owned jointly by all the tenants. Of course, if you are the one that did all the work to clean up and your roomate stained the carpet during one of her crazy parties that will not make you happy. Different landlords handle this situation differently, but again the landlord does not want to get involved. It just wants to give the money back as it is required to do and let you all work it out.