Roommate Contract

Introduction:

This is a roommate contract and the names of the parties to the contract are Kathy, Mark, Eric and Jennifer. The date of the contract is 1^st March 2012 and is supposed to be renewed every year for four years.

Definition Section:

• Kitchen-it is the common place where everyone is expected to prepare the meals.
• Responsible- this term is used to refer to a form of behavior that does not annoy others.
• Cleaning schedule-this consists of the duties that every house member has been allocated in the house.
• Personal items-personal items consist of individual belongings that can only be shared with other house members with the consent of the owner.
• Tidy- this term refers to maintaining a place in the house clean. Such places include the bathroom, kitchen and the common rooms.
• ‘On time’- this term is used to refer to the last date when the bill is due.
• Common places- this term is used to refer to the general places where every roommate can freely use without interfering with the privacy of the other roommates. Such places include the kitchen, the bathrooms and other parts of the house excluding the bedrooms.
• Late hours- late hours in this contract will be considered as those times of the night when others are asleep or preparing to sleep. These hours will begin from 10 Pm to 4 Am in the morning.

Jobs and responsibilities

All the roommates have the duty to:

• Honor the lease agreement by paying the rent
• Honor the cleaning schedule arranged
• Pay all bills on time including the electricity bills and the kitchen and bathroom bills.
• Inform other roommates whenever they are hosting parties in the house.
• Inform other roommates whenever they are hosting their relatives, friends and any other person in the room.

The following list entails the individual jobs and responsibility of each roommate:

Kathy

• Avoid interfering with Kathy’s drugs as that is her own business
• Avoid interfering with her personal items such as clothes
• Stop complaining of other roommate parting styles unless they directly affect her.

Jennifer

• Organize her clothes and ensure that the bathroom is tidy by removing every trace of her makeup.
• Avoid leaving any drugs including Roxicodone pills from the bathroom
• Stop buying expensive items in the house without the consent of other roommates and demand sharing of the bills

Mark

• Stop visiting the ladies bedrooms un-necessarily
• Stop practicing music in the morning while others are asleep

Eric

• Avoid playing game as late as 2am in the morning
• Avoid playing in the bathroom
• Pay his share of electric bill in time and/or reimburse of the electric bill once Jennifer has paid it for him
• Pay the cable bills on time
• Stop the frequent air conditioning and heating of the room without the consent of all the roommates
• Perform his share of daily chores in the house, the daily chores include Garbage disposal, cleaning the dishes, vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom and the toilet

Roommates’ rights

• All roommates have the right to right to use the bathroom, the kitchen, and the extra rooms in a responsible manner.
• All roommates have the right to privacy of their rooms and other people should not enter the room without consent unless in emergency situations
• All roommates have the right to be informed of the items to be bought in the house if and when the cost/bills are to be shared.
• All the roommates have the right to have a noise-free environment in the house because everyone has a different schedule from the other members.
• All roommates have the right to make the decisions concerning air conditioning and heating of the house.
• No roommate will be allowed to host a relative, friend or any other person without the consent of other housemates
• All roommates are required to get the consent of other roommates before hosting parties in the house.
• All the roommates have the right to invite any person they wish to their parties and leave out any person uninvited for the parties including the housemates.

Breach of Contract

Any roommates who fail to honor the common responsibilities cited in the ‘Jobs and Responsibilities section will be considered to have violated this contract and will be liable for punishment as follows:

• Any roommate who fails to honor the cleaning schedule outlined will be banned from using the common places including the kitchen and the bathroom up to duration of time when such member will agree to abide to the stipulation of this part.
• Any roommate who fails to honor the cleaning schedule for a period of three months will be banned from using the common places for the remaining part of that year and a new schedule set.
• Any roommate who fails to pay his/her bills on time will have his/her electricity switched off in the bedroom. Such a member will be required to pay the bills within a period of one month. Failure to honor this will have the member denied to use the common places until he/she pays the bills.
• All the roommates will share the costs of purchasing kitchen items if/when the items were bought with their consent.

In addition to the above punishments as a result of violation of the contract, individual members will be punished as follows:

Kathy

• Kathy will be required to stop interfering with other roommates personal affairs including Jennifer. Breach of this agreement by way of discarding Jennifer’s drugs, Kathy will be required to replace the drugs.
• Kathy will be required to avoid using other roommates’ personal items failure to which she will be required to take the clothes and replace them with new ones.
• Kathy should stop complaining of other roommates living styles unless they directly affect her. Failure to observe this will lead to her excommunication with other roommates.
• Kathy will be required to leave the bathroom opened for other roommates because it is their right to use the bathroom. Other roommates will block her from using the bathroom if she fails to honor this.

Jennifer

• Jennifer will be expected to organize her clothes and ensure that she leaves the bathroom clean and tidy. Failure to honor this will be punished by denial to access of the bathroom for a period of time until she accepts to keep the place clean.
• Jennifer will be required to remove all her drugs from the bathroom. Other roommates will punish her by disposing her drugs if she fails to remove them from the bathroom
• Jennifer is expected to seek the consent of other roommates before purchasing expensive items in the house otherwise she will be footing the bills all by herself.

Mark

• Mark is expected to stop frequenting the ladies rooms without their consent. The ladies will lock him out should he visit their rooms without their consent.
• Mark will seek the consent of other roommates before practicing his music loudly every Saturday. Other roommates will punish him by switching off his instruments should he fail to stop.

Eric

• Eric is expected to stop playing his game until late hours. Failure to observe will be punished by having him locked out of the free rooms until he agrees to observe this part of the contract.
• He will be expected to pay electric bills on time and reimburse of the electric bill once Jennifer has paid it for him. Failure to honor this will have electricity disconnected in his bedroom. In addition he will be denied the pay per view movie screening.
• Eric will be expected to stop the frequent air conditioning and heating of the room without the consent of all the roommates. He will be required to foot the bill accrued alone if he does not stop. The portion of the electric bill that he will be expected to pay will be calculated depending on value of the bill.
• Eric is expected to perform his share of daily chores in the house, the daily chores include Garbage disposal, cleaning the dishes, vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom and the toilet. Failure to observe this will be punished by denial of the access of the common places.

Explanation:

This will be the best contract to ensure that the roommates live in harmony without creating beefs among them. This written agreement will help in solving problems among the roommate because the lease agreement between the roommates and the Landlord does not stipulate the manner in which they are expected to live together. The duty schedule created will ensure that everyone participates in performing house chores and that they are not left to particular members. This will ensure that the house is always clean and fit to live in. the contract has a stipulation of how the kitchen bills are to be shared among the roommates. The kitchen items are to be bought with the consent of every roommate to ensure that they are not very expensive. This will make sure that the members are comfortable with the purchases and hence no issues in footing the bills. The electricity bills are supposed to be shared equally within the members. The contract has stipulated the manner in which air conditioning and heating of the rooms is to be done. The roommates have to agree on the issue of air conditioning as a result of increase in electric bills. This agreement or member consent will make everyone comfortable in footing the bills. In regard to hosting parties and hosting individual roommates’ relatives, friends or spouses, the agreement has strict guidelines that the members will uphold to maintain friendship within the house. Roommates will be required to inform other roommates in advance of any plans to host a party or host a friend or relative and get their consent. This will ensure that the roommates are prepared for such plans and any inconvenience that might arise. The fact that every roommate will reserve the right to invite anyone to such parties will ensure that no roommate is at a conflict with another for failure to get invited to such parties. The contract has a provision for preservation of individual rights of privacy in bedrooms and rights to personal property. This will ensure that every roommate has privacy in their bedrooms and every personal item is safe. This will prevent a situation such as one where Kathy used Jennifer’s clothing or cracked Mark’s guitar. Finally, the contract prevents the roommates from interfering with others relationships and lifestyles making the house comfortable to live in. Kathy will not interfere with Jenifer’s relationship with Mark. She will also not interfere with Jenifer’s lifestyle.