College housing
What's the difference between an individual lease and a joint lease?
Updated By the Housing Rocket moderators
Short answer
With an individual lease, sometimes called a by-the-bed lease, you are responsible only for your own room and your own rent. With a joint lease, everyone signs one lease and each person can be held responsible for the whole rent if a roommate doesn't pay. Student apartment complexes often use individual leases.
Individual leases are common in purpose-built student housing. If a roommate leaves, you aren't billed for their share, but the landlord may put a new person in the empty room without asking you. You may also be matched with roommates you've never met.
Joint leases are the norm for houses and regular apartments. You choose your roommates, but one person moving out or not paying becomes everyone's problem, and the landlord can usually pursue any tenant, or their guarantor, for the full amount.
- Ask which type the lease is before you sign, and get the answer in writing.
- On a joint lease, put together a roommate agreement covering who pays what and what happens if someone leaves.
- On an individual lease, ask how new roommates are chosen and whether you can request a room change.
Want the whole picture? Read Off-Campus Housing for Students: A Semester-by-Semester Timeline.