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Splitting rent sounds great until you realize your roommate eats your food, never cleans, and has their terrible boyfriend over five nights a week. Sharing a living space with someone who makes you miserable isn’t a money-saving strategy. It’s torture with cheaper rent.
You’ve got options. Some are diplomatic. Some aren’t.
1. Do background checks before signing anything
Too late for you, but worth mentioning: interview potential roommates like you’re hiring someone. Because you are. You’re hiring someone to not drive you insane in your own home.
Meet them in person. Ask direct questions. Google their name. Then get a written roommate agreement that covers everything: guests, cleaning, noise, shared expenses. If they balk at signing something, that’s your answer right there.
2. Stop providing what they’re stealing
Roommate keeps eating your yogurt? Stop buying yogurt. Drinking your beer? Keep your beer at a friend’s place or get a mini fridge with a lock for your room.
Cut off whatever they’re mooching. They’ll either start buying their own stuff or get annoyed enough to leave. Either way, you win.
3. Confront them directly
Stop hoping they’ll figure it out. They won’t.
Sit them down and tell them exactly what’s wrong. "You don’t clean up after yourself and I’m done with it" works better than passive-aggressive notes on the fridge.
Give them two weeks to fix the behavior. If nothing changes, tell them you want them out. Give a month’s notice if you’re feeling generous (or if your lease requires it). Most people will leave rather than stay somewhere they’re clearly not wanted.
4. Check your lease situation
If you’re the only one on the lease, this is simple. Give them written notice to vacate (check your local laws for required notice period, usually 30 days). If they don’t leave, file for eviction through your local court. Yes, it’s a hassle. Yes, it’s worth it.
If you’re both on the lease, you can’t evict them. But you can make it clear you’re not renewing when the lease is up, and you can ask the landlord about removing them from the lease if they’ve violated terms (not paying their share, causing damage, etc.).
5. Document everything for legal protection
Take photos of messes they leave. Save texts where they admit to not paying bills. Keep a log of incidents with dates and times.
If they’ve damaged your property, threatened you, or gotten physical, you’re past roommate drama and into legal territory. File a police report. Get a restraining order if needed. Document everything because you’ll need it for court or to break your lease early.
