How to Find and Screen a Compatible Roommate

Look first among people you know or can check through someone you trust, then widen the search to school or employer housing boards and roommate listing sites. Before anyone signs, screen every candidate the same way: talk through habits and money, check a photo ID and proof of income, call a past landlord, and review credit reports the candidate shares with permission. Do not send or accept money until you have met, seen the home, and confirmed who holds the lease, and write your ad about the room and its house rules rather than the kind of person you want, because fair housing law limits what a housing ad can say.

Where to look for a roommate

Work outward from the people you can check most easily:

1. People you know. Ask friends, coworkers, and classmates, and ask people who have lived with a candidate how rent, bills, and chores went.
2. School and employer boards. Check whether your college's off-campus housing office or your employer keeps a roommate or housing board.
3. Roommate listing sites, apps, and social media groups. These put you in touch with people no one you know can vouch for, so run every check below on candidates you meet this way.

If you are moving into someone else's place, ask to see the lease with that person's name on it and ask how the landlord will approve you. Our guide to adding a roommate to your lease explains the landlord's part.

How to spot a roommate scam

When you answer a room listing, watch for the warning signs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lists for rental scams: rent well below similar listings, a lister who is out of the country or cannot show the place, pressure to decide fast, and requests for payment by wire transfer, gift card, or cryptocurrency. Before you pay anything:

• Confirm the person is on the lease or owns the home, using a photo ID that matches the lease or the county's property tax records.
• Contact the landlord or property manager using contact details you find yourself, not ones the lister gives you, and confirm you can move in.
• Pay only after you have seen the room and signed a written agreement, by a method that leaves a record.

Our guide to security deposit scams explains how to check ownership and what to do if you already paid.

When you post a room, watch for the overpayment scam: a candidate who cannot meet in person sends a check for more than the deposit and asks you to send back the difference. The FTC says it can take weeks for a bank to discover that a check is fake, and by then you are stuck repaying the bank. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) advises against depositing checks or sending money for people you have not met, and says to use payment apps only with people you know and trust.

What to ask every candidate

Ask each person the same questions and write down the answers, so you compare candidates on equal terms and have a first draft of your roommate agreement:

• Schedule. Work hours, whether they work from home, and when they sleep.
• Cleaning. How often they clean shared spaces and whether they will follow a chore rotation.
• Guests and partners. How often guests stay overnight and whether a partner would stay regularly.
• Noise. Hours for music, calls, and gaming, and what quiet hours they expect.
• Smoking and parties. Smoking, vaping, cannabis, alcohol, and gatherings at home.
• Pets and allergies. Pets they have or plan to get, and any allergies.
• Bills and food. Heating and cooling habits, and whether they want to share groceries.
• Money. How they will pay their share each month and whether they have ever fallen behind on rent.
• Length of stay. Whether they can commit through the end of the lease.

How to check identity, income, rental history, and credit

1. Identity. Look at a government-issued photo ID and confirm the name matches the pay stubs, references, and credit reports. You can also search the National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW), a U.S. Department of Justice partnership with state, territorial, and tribal governments that searches registries for all 50 states, Washington, D.C., the territories, and Indian Country.
2. Income. Ask for two recent pay stubs, an offer letter, or bank statements. As a benchmark, the Census Bureau, following the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), counts a household as cost-burdened when it spends more than 30% of its income on rent and other housing costs. For a $1,100 monthly share of rent and bills to stay within 30%, the candidate needs gross income of about $3,667 a month, or $44,000 a year ($1,100 divided by 0.30 is $3,666.67).
3. Rental history. Get the names of the current and previous landlords, look up their phone numbers yourself, and ask whether the rent was paid on time, proper notice was given, and the deposit came back. Check state and local screening restrictions before searching court records. New York's Real Property Law section 227-f bars landlords from rejecting applicants because of past or pending landlord-tenant proceedings. Checking court records and then rejecting an applicant there creates a presumption of a violation that the landlord must rebut. Where using eviction records is allowed, check each case's outcome: a filing alone does not prove an eviction or unpaid rent, and the case may have been dismissed.
4. Credit. Get the candidate's written permission before you run any credit or background check. The simpler route is to have the candidate download free reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion at AnnualCreditReport.com, which the FTC says anyone can do once a week, and share them with you. Look for collection accounts, especially from past landlords or utilities, and recent late payments. If you rent out the room as a landlord or sublessor, you must give an adverse-action notice when a credit or tenant-screening report contributes to a rejection or worse terms, such as a larger deposit. This notice identifies the reporting company and explains the applicant's rights to a free report and to dispute errors.

If the candidate will be added to the lease, the landlord can run its own checks too. See your rights during tenant screening for what landlords can review and charge.

What fair housing law lets your ad say

The federal Fair Housing Act bars any housing ad or statement that indicates a preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status (having children under 18), or national origin. Ads for someone to share your own living space are treated differently in some states:

• The Ninth Circuit. In 2012, the federal appeals court for Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington held that neither the Fair Housing Act nor California's fair housing law applies to choosing a roommate to share a living unit. That ruling binds federal courts only in those states.
• California's guidance. The state's tenant guide says a person advertising for a roommate in a single-family home may state a preference for one sex when the roommate will share living areas such as the kitchen, living room, or bathroom. It adds that no law allows a roommate ad to state other preferences, such as religion or whether someone has children.

Write the ad about the room: the rent, the bills, the move-in date, the lease length, and house rules such as no smoking, quiet hours, or no pets. Then hold every candidate to the same income, reference, and credit standards. A landlord or property manager choosing tenants must follow the act's limits on whom it can turn down unless an exemption applies; see fair housing protections against rental discrimination.

Extra precautions when you move in with someone you don't know

1. Meet before you commit. Meet at least once in person, or by video call if the candidate is moving from another city, and tour the home together.
2. Choose individual leases if the landlord offers them. TexasLawHelp.org explains that roommates on the same lease are jointly responsible for following it, so if one does not pay, the others have to make up the difference; with individual leases, each tenant answers only for their own lease. Our guide to joint leases vs. individual leases compares the two.
3. Sign a roommate agreement before move-in. Cover rent and bill shares, guests, and how either of you can end the arrangement.
4. Get your own renters insurance. California's tenant guide notes that a renters policy usually protects only the policyholder, so each roommate needs a separate policy for their belongings.
5. Keep finances separate. Do not share bank logins or add a roommate to your accounts, and pay each other by bank transfer, check, or payment app so every payment has a record.
6. Protect your room. Keep valuables and documents locked away, and get the landlord's written permission before adding a lock to your bedroom door.