The roommate money clause nobody writes into the lease (but should)

A lease is a contract between tenants and a landlord. It says nothing about what happens between the tenants — who pays what share, what happens if someone moves out early, whose name the wifi is under. Most of the roommate disputes that end up ruining a friendship are about exactly the things the lease was never written to cover.

What actually belongs in a roommate agreement

• The split itself — even, by room, or by income — written down, not assumed. See the piece on splitting utilities and groceries for the specifics.
• What happens if someone leaves before the lease ends: do they keep paying their share until a replacement is found, or is there a notice period?
• How the security deposit gets divided if it's returned, and who's on the hook if it isn't, especially if the damage wasn't shared.
• What counts as a shared cost versus a personal one — cleaning supplies, yes; one person's specific streaming habit, no — decided before the first disagreement, not during it.

None of this needs a lawyer or a template that reads like a legal document. A shared note, agreed by everyone and dated, is enough to turn “I thought we said” into “we actually wrote down.”