Roommate with No Lease: Can Leasee Raise Their Portion of the Rent?

When you’re renting as a roommate with no lease, you’re either considered a subtenant or co-tenant. The circumstances surrounding the rental relationship and any verbal agreements will imply one or the other. Whether your roommate can raise the rent depends on which of the two you are.

Are You a Subtenant?

If your roommate rented to you as a subtenant from the outset, and you entered into that relationship with that understanding, then you’re in a subletting agreement. No lease is required, but that puts you in a precarious position. For example, the lease between your roommate and the landlord may not allow subletting, and the landlord can evict you. If there was no verbal agreement about subletting, a court could use the following factual examples to imply one:

• You ask your roommate to make repairs
• You pay the rent to your roommate
• You direct all complaints to your roommate and not the landlord

If you’re not considered a subtenant, then you’ll most likely be considered a co-tenant.

Are You a Co-Tenant?

You don’t need a written agreement to be considered a co-tenant. A lease agreement in writing will protect your rights much better than a verbal or implied one. There are circumstances though where you or the landlord may prefer not to have one. When there is no lease agreement, a court might consider you a co-tenant in light of these facts:

• You pay your portion of the rent to the landlord
• You provide written notices to the landlord about the need to make repairs
• You paid a security deposit to the landlord

Once you know whether you’re a subtenant or co-tenant, you can determine your rights in regards to rent increases.

Rent Increase for Subtenants

When you enter in to subletting agreement, even with no lease, your roommate is your landlord. The same rights, duties and responsibilities of the landlord belong to your roommate. That includes the right to increase rent. Most real estate laws have boundaries for how much your roommate can raise rent, as well as when and how often. Some local laws prohibit the subletter from profiting from the rent paid by the subtenant. Any rent increase can’t exceed the rent amount in the lease between the landlord and the subletter because that would profit the subletter. Other jurisdictions also mandate a fair share of rent and no more, such as no more than half of the rent due to the landlord.  You roommate cannot increase rent over what’s considered a fair share.

Rent Increase for Co-Tenants

Your roommate cannot raise your portion of the rent if you’re a co-tenant. Unlike the subletting agreement where your roommate becomes “the landlord,” the co-tenant answers to the landlord in a non-subletting agreement. The landlord can raise rent, and he is bound to laws on the amount allowed for a rent increase. Your roommate can ask you to pay more, but you can refuse.

The best thing that you can do to avoid legal hassle is to get added to the lease agreement if you have no lease. You can also respond to a demand for more rent by moving out.