Probably the biggest source of roommate conflict is money. One month it will be one roommate not coming up with rent by the first of the month, and the next it will be the other roommate complaining that they shouldn’t have to pay half of the utilities since they don’t use half of the utilities. Here is a basic guide you can use to get through any problems such as these.

In the case of late rent, it is a situation where if something like that happens once, it is fine since everyone makes mistakes now and then, but if coming up with rent late starts to become a habit, than immediate termination of the roommate agreement is acceptable. By not having rent on time, you are putting your roommate in an extremely difficult position, especially if they don’t have any way to pay the remainder. If you can’t pay the rent, you shouldn’t have moved in.

As far as dividing up utilities goes, you would be smart to have an agreement in place long before the first cable, internet or power bill comes in the mail. Of course, those agreements can be adjusted throughout the stay, but they can also be made part of the overall agreement so that any changes could result in someone moving out. Essentially, if roommate A decides they don’t want to pay for half the cable bill anymore, instead of simply withholding that cash, it would be decided upon at the beginning that that would mean that that person moves out.