Florida Room Rental Agreement (Free PDF & Word Template)

Some apartments are made to be shared by multiple people. They might have two distinct master bedrooms at the ends and communal areas in the middle. In this situation, property owners may permit a tenant to sublet a room to a third party if their lease agreement does not clearly exclude it.

In this arrangement, roommates might contribute by splitting the rent costs. In many cases, a person's ability to afford a rental home in a particular area or a fancier apartment complex is increased by having a roommate. The contract terms will vary depending on whether there is a single roommate or multiple roommates.

Room Rental Agreement

The Florida room rental agreement is a legal contract that spells out each co-tenant's obligations when two or more persons share a rental unit. Additional terms and conditions governing sharing the premises may be included in this contract.

This type of lease agreement specifies how the costs of a location will be split among the inhabitants. As a result, this contract helps resolve any potential future disputes between roommates on any matter.

The Florida room rental agreement covers a variety of topics, including utility sharing, rent payment, storage, cleaning schedule, etc. Furthermore, it's critical for tenants to understand their rights and obligations when living together on a property.

Although the Florida room rental agreement governs matters between roommates, the landlord is not a party to this rental agreement. The landlord deals with the primary renter or whoever else signed the original lease agreement with the landlord.

The tenant must, however, obtain the landlord's approval before adding a roommate. The Florida room rental agreement has a specific lease term - it will expire once the term is up. However, this arrangement may be extended by the roommates at any time.

Why Use One?

All potential roommates must fill out a rental application and sign the Florida room rental agreement for everyone's protection. One benefit of having the roommate fill out a rental application is that the landlord may verify their references and determine whether they are financially qualified for the apartment. If the tenant is acquaintances or friends with the prospective roommate, they might not be as diligent in their background checks.

When a homeowner, building manager, or principal tenant wants to rent out a private room or a piece of their property to a secondary renter, they should use a Florida room rental agreement.

Not Having One

Without a room rental agreement, you run the danger of exposing yourself and other tenants to costly delays, stress, difficulties, and possibly even legal action.

Here are a few of the consequences:

• Lost Property: Borrowed personal belongings could be destroyed or never returned in the absence of a room rental agreement. Furthermore, one party could end up being liable for any damages to shared property that occurred during the tenancy.
• Lost Money: Because a party left early without giving a warning, one party can be stuck losing a security deposit, paying higher rent, or footing the bill for property damage.
• Mental Anguish: A common result of failing to specify a party's rights and obligations under a legal contract is strained relationships. Because of your roommate's actions or failure to make timely rent payments, your landlord may have reason to be suspicious of you. Additionally, your friendship with your roommate may suffer as a result of minor misunderstandings.
• Lost Time: A sudden search for a new roommate may fall on you if a roommate leaves early and without warning. You run the risk of wasting time trying to solve these issues at a later, inconvenient time if you and your roommate can't agree on certain matters. Furthermore, you don't want to end up cleaning up after your roommate throws a party, hosts guests, or just generally keeps the place messy.

By using Florida room rental agreements, you can clearly mark smoking zones and specify whether alcohol is allowed on the residential property.

Roommate Agreement

A Florida roommate agreement and a room rental agreement do not appear to differ significantly at first glance. However, there are a few significant differences that you should be aware of.

Make sure you understand the distinctions between the two before agreeing to a housing agreement. Otherwise, you run the risk of creating ambiguous obligations and expectations for yourself and your other lessees.

Florida Room Rental Agreement

• Known as a 'sublease'
• Incorporates certain characteristics of the original lease agreement
• Generally requires the landlord's permission
• Used when tenants want to sublet a room to another person

Florida Roommate Agreement

• Known as a 'roommate contract' or 'housemate agreement'
• Completely independent of the initial lease agreement
• Doesn't always need the landlord's permission
• Used when you find a new roommate or are moving in with a new roommate

How to Write One

The landlord generally completes most of the lease agreement. It can be completed jointly by the landlord and the tenant as well. No matter who fills out the form, everyone is required to adhere to the terms stated in the contract.

Here's what to include in the Florida room lease agreement:

Introductory Paragraph

A few things that need to be included in this section of lease agreements include:

• The date of the lease agreement
• The address of the rental property or the number of the unit in the apartment complex
• The legal names of the people entering into the contract
• The date the contract will take effect and the expiration date

Rent

The amount of rent and a breakdown of how much each tenant must pay are both included in lease agreements. You need to first state the rent due to the landlord. The rent that each roommate is expected to pay is listed after this.

Next, you need to describe how you are going to pay rent - i.e. check, cash, or money order. It should include the address where the rent will be sent as well as the due date.

Security Deposit

The exact amount of the security deposit that the landlord requires is specified in this section of the Florida room rental contract.

It also specifies the landlord's or the principal tenant's name as the security deposit's recipient.

The agreement's security deposit information also includes the day the landlord receives the money. Additionally, the lease also states how much each tenant must pay in addition to these.

According to state legislation, each tenant is entitled to their security deposit back when the lease is terminated. However, if there is a valid legal justification, the landlord may keep it. Furthermore, if any damage was done to the rental property, only the roommate responsible for the damage will not get back their security deposit.

Cleaning Schedule

The Florida room rental agreement must include the cleaning schedule chosen by the roommates. This makes it easier to assign responsibilities to roommates without causing a fight.

Food, Storage, and Cleanup

It is crucial to include this clause in the Florida room rental agreement in order to resolve any potential future disputes. This clause determines how the roommates will split the cost of food. There are two ways you can do this:

1. Each roommate is responsible for their own food
2. All roommates divide the costs equally

However, a general provision states that roommates are not permitted to borrow food from one another without the other's consent. This section includes the cost of the food as well as the storage space each roommate receives for their belongings.

Additionally, everybody who uses the kitchen is typically responsible for keeping it clean. This implies that it is the user's responsibility to clean up the kitchen after use.

Utilities

This section outlines the primary utilities for which each person is accountable. When possible, it would be a good idea to include utilities in the rent payment. As a result, the landlord will have the ability to demand payment of rent if a roommate fails to pay his or her part of the utilities.

Additional Considerations

List any other factors that need to be taken into account when sharing a space. Mark any topics that have other agreed-upon terms in the section titled "Additional Agreement Terms." The conditions must be spelled out in a different document. It must be signed by all roommates. It will then be incorporated into the leasing agreement.

Signatures

Each roommate is required to sign and print their name beneath the signature. The lease agreement must be signed by both the landlord and the tenant. Without the landlord's name and signature, the agreement won't be enforceable.

Local Laws

Only landlords are permitted to evict renters legally in Florida. The lessor or owner of a residential unit is referred to as a landlord in chapter 83 of the Florida Statutes.

In some cases, the original lease agreement with the landlord may only mention one roommate, with the other one not included. In this scenario, the tenant would be the one formally leasing the property from the landlord, and the other roommates would be leased. The initial lease agreement must have a subleasing provision for this to happen.

A formal lease with the landlord is required for a roommate to have the rights of a tenant with the landlord. This will be particularly crucial if there is a dispute between the tenants and one renter is attempting to evict another.

The roommate will have a verbal tenancy agreement if the original renter decides to permit roommates to move in without a written lease. Once the roommate moves in and obtains tenancy, the tenant cannot make the roommate leave unless that individual was evicted in accordance with the law.

The length of time guests are permitted to stay in the home before they must be added to the lease is usually specified in residential leases. As a result, a tenant would be unable to sublet a room to someone who is not listed on the lease without breaking the terms of the original lease.

Here's what you need to know:

• If both tenants are listed on the agreement, they can't evict each other.
• The status of the landlord is conferred upon a master tenant who is specified on the lease; this tenant may initiate eviction proceedings against a roommate who is not identified and is consequently reduced to that of a subletter.
• Two tenants not mentioned on the lease can't evict one another.

If there are disputes between roommates and one requests that the other be kicked out of the house, the landlord will assist in starting the eviction process if the offending party doesn't agree to go. Landlords are not required to mediate arguments between tenants or permit them to switch residences if they can no longer get along. However, in terms of lease violations and eviction notices, landlords are required to follow landlord-tenant laws.

Potential Issues

While sharing expenses with a roommate could benefit a tenant financially, this arrangement might also lead to tension. This makes having a room rental agreement advantageous (to the landlord and tenants), as it identifies frequent sources of disagreements and establishes guidelines for how to resolve them.

The following are common concerns between renters that can be resolved in the Florida room rental agreement:

• Sleep schedules
• Guest policy
• Borrowing personal items
• Respecting one another's privacy
• Resolving conflicts in a respectable manner

Build Your Own

Are you trying to draft your own Florida room rental agreement? This can be challenging at times. Fortunately, DoorLoop offers various room rental agreements for you to choose from. Choose between the following formats:

• PDF
• Word
• Customized
  

eSignature

If you need to sign a room rental or roommate agreement with a new tenant, you want to make the process as easy and efficient as possible.

With DoorLoop, you can get your agreements and templates eSigned in a few seconds. You can also get to the eSignature step much faster by creating reusable templates that are autofilled with tenants' information.

DoorLoop also makes it so simple to find the best tenants in the first place by syndicating your listings on popular websites Zillow, Trulia, Hotpads, Apartments.com, and more. You can also make sure you're bringing in the best tenants by screening your prospects in seconds through DoorLoop.

For more information about DoorLoop, learn more or schedule a free demo.

Conclusion

A contract for sharing residential property among members is known as a Florida room rental agreement. Specific Florida state law issues are included in this agreement. Similar to that, it contains certain clauses that are required.

You can find a Florida room rental agreement template on DoorLoop if you're looking for a comprehensive one. We offer a number of templates to suit your needs.