Treat this as if you were a landlord renting your apartment to a tenant.
1) Make sure the roommate makes at least three times his/her portion of the monthly rent.
2) Verify he or she has a good credit score of 650 or higher. Have the potential roommate give you his/her credit score along with the report so you don't have to run the credit checks yourself. Both credit scores and reports can be ordered from any of the three national credit monitoring bureaus: Transunion, Equifax and Experian. It's a good idea to ask for credit reports from all three bureaus as not every debtor will report claims to all three.
3) Do a criminal background check. There are many tenant screening companies such as Fidelifacts in Manhattan that will provide criminal background reports for a fee.
4) Verify employment status and make sure the person has enough cash in the bank to deal with emergencies.
5) Require a security deposit of at least one month of the roommate's portion of the rent to cover damages or unpaid rent.
6) Go out for drinks and see if the two of you get along well.
7) Once you've found the right person, have him/her sign the lease. It's a good idea to include a provision in the contract that gives you the right to evict the roommate with a 30 days notice if things don't work out.
1) Make sure the roommate makes at least three times his/her portion of the monthly rent.
2) Verify he or she has a good credit score of 650 or higher. Have the potential roommate give you his/her credit score along with the report so you don't have to run the credit checks yourself. Both credit scores and reports can be ordered from any of the three national credit monitoring bureaus: Transunion, Equifax and Experian. It's a good idea to ask for credit reports from all three bureaus as not every debtor will report claims to all three.
3) Do a criminal background check. There are many tenant screening companies such as Fidelifacts in Manhattan that will provide criminal background reports for a fee.
4) Verify employment status and make sure the person has enough cash in the bank to deal with emergencies.
5) Require a security deposit of at least one month of the roommate's portion of the rent to cover damages or unpaid rent.
6) Go out for drinks and see if the two of you get along well.
7) Once you've found the right person, have him/her sign the lease. It's a good idea to include a provision in the contract that gives you the right to evict the roommate with a 30 days notice if things don't work out.
