Room Mate Law

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]So here's a little backstory. I live in a townhouse with one other international German student. She had two people over which I didn't figure out until they had moved into the third bedroom between us. Now my landlady has called me, she found out, she's moving a third tenant into the third room, and elevated me to a position of managing the house and the tenants for her.

That and all utilities were in my name anyway. But it's clear I'll need a few rules for the house. So far I only have compiled a list of things like a need for:

Mopping.
Vacuuming.
Dishwashing.
Taking off shoes when entering house. I'm Chinese people, it's like law.
Turning off lights when not in use.

So ideas?

How should I write up a fair list so my two room mates understand in no uncertain terms that the house needs to stay clean and neat?[/FONT][/COLOR]

[The13thMan]

[COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]Hm... don't forget about the shitter. That needs to stay nice and tidy.

Well, last year i had a roommate who both didn't like my music and didn't like loud music where i did. So perhaps some regulation on the noise level. This is something i think you'd have to discuss with them. No reason to keep things quiet when everybody likes it loud, right?

I don't know how crime is in your area, but locking doors might be an issue when nobody's around. Windows too if you're on the first floor.

That's all i can think of.
[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][LIST]
[*]
? Dishes: Rinse them, load properly in the dishwasher, and run if full.
? Cooking: If you have excess food, put it away in plastic bags, or other dishes. All larger pots cannot be run in the dishwasher and should be washed soon after. Everyone is responsible for his or her own food and the fridge needs to be cleaned once a week, with excess food tossed to make room for new groceries.
? Timely payment for utilities: I will always tell you as soon as we get a utility bill so you have time to pay it. I will also split it three ways and if you want to review the bill, let me know. I?ll get you a copy.
? Vacuuming: Once a week downstairs.
? Mopping: Once a week in the kitchen.
? Trash: Every time it gets full.
? Laundry: Clean the lint tray in the dryer after every use and remove your clothes in a timely manner.
? Guests: You can have someone spend the night for one to two days.
? Parties: The Home Owner?s Association for Silver Ridge Town Homes does not allow loud parties, but having a few friends over for a quiet kickback is just fine.
? Quiet time at night: Weekdays; quiet after 11:00 p.m. Weekends; quiet after Midnight.
? Please take off your shoes downstairs and put them in your room. Try to keep your shoes downstairs to one pair at a time.
? Mopping, Vacuuming, and Trash: pick one to do every week, or we can rotate responsibilities.
[/LIST]

[center]~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/center]

Dear god. I completely forgot about the doors and windows. But I think I have everything else. That and half of these are in our contract anyway, which my room mate conveniently forgot up to this point.

I should probably add that because I live in the San Bernardino ghetto of California. Behold why I do not go out at night. I have my own bathroom to be honest, so I don't give a crap how the other bathroom looks. That's something my room mate now and the new one will have to hammer out for themselves.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Japan]

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Perhaps always keep it locked and always keep your key with you as another rule?[/COLOR]

[Justin]

[quote name='Neuvoxraiha'][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][LIST]
[*]
? Dishes: Rinse them, load properly in the dishwasher, and run if full.
? Cooking: If you have excess food, put it away in plastic bags, or other dishes. All larger pots cannot be run in the dishwasher and should be washed soon after. Everyone is responsible for his or her own food and the fridge needs to be cleaned once a week, with excess food tossed to make room for new groceries.
? Timely payment for utilities: I will always tell you as soon as we get a utility bill so you have time to pay it. I will also split it three ways and if you want to review the bill, let me know. I?ll get you a copy.
? Vacuuming: Once a week downstairs.
? Mopping: Once a week in the kitchen.
? Trash: Every time it gets full.
? Laundry: Clean the lint tray in the dryer after every use and remove your clothes in a timely manner.
? Guests: You can have someone spend the night for one to two days.
? Parties: The Home Owner?s Association for Silver Ridge Town Homes does not allow loud parties, but having a few friends over for a quiet kickback is just fine.
? Quiet time at night: Weekdays; quiet after 11:00 p.m. Weekends; quiet after Midnight.
? Please take off your shoes downstairs and put them in your room. Try to keep your shoes downstairs to one pair at a time.
? Mopping, Vacuuming, and Trash: pick one to do every week, or we can rotate responsibilities.
[/LIST]

[center]~~~~~~~~~~~~~[/center]

[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Yep. You and I would be horrible roommates.

But those rules sound like they should get the point across. I wish I'd made a list for my roommates before moving in with them...bastards.

-Justin

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Yeah well, I'm a neat freak, and my room mate professed at one point to be concerned that I'd be as clean as her but let's face it.

My snake is cleaner than her. At least he doesn't leave dishes in the sink after every meal.

And as far as security goes, I'll probably trot out the statistics that the city with the highest crime rate in San Bernardino County...which is by the way larger than about half of New England... is in fact San Bernardino. The lovely city in which you can be shot in broad daylight in the grocery store parking lot. Hoorah for gangs and crystal meth.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[The13thMan]

[COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]My roommates, and myself, are all ridiculously messy. We leave crap everywhere. The floor is riddled with crumbs and fallen debris. Our sink is filled with dishes and dirty water that the dishes soak in for whatever reason. The toilet hasn't been cleaned since we moved in. And there are beer cans everywhere, partly for the beer pyramid. There's even blue stuff on the walls!

But we do clean every now and then. Almost weekly.


[/FONT][/COLOR]

[outlawstar69]

The person I'm rooming with in our dorm, has been notorious these past few years for his "beaver dam" of schtuff that piles up where ever he lives. If unchecked, a corner of the room is just permanently [I]gone[/I], till the end of the year.

Thankfully, my penchant in being somewhat neat has rubbed off, and there is only about a 2X2 square of his stuff laying around. However, as he's brought up... he hasn't started making his cosplay for Tekkoshocon, yet - and since he's going as Angemon (including buffing up to get ripped, for the ladies), there will be [I]many[/I] feathers, I'm sure of it o_o

[celestialcharm]

[quote name='Neuvoxraiha'][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"] At least he doesn't leave dishes in the sink after every meal.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]
[FONT="Book Antiqua"]
[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]:o I don't mind dishes in the sink, but I get pissed off when people use my dishes and leave them in the sink! My purple plate was missing for days! And someone must have left food in my pot, so now it's stained! If they had just washed it after they used it, it would have been fine!:grumble:[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Circ]

[quote name='The13thMan']There's even blue stuff on the walls!
[/QUOTE]

I hope that's just blueberry jelly because I seem to recall the spores from those fungi are toxic...

[Ravenstorture]

[color="darkgreen"][font="garamond"]

My house is impeccably clean at all times, spotless, and when there is an inspection all we need to do is dust. And I live with three housemates. Yet, despite all this, it is the house of DOOM and I cannot WAIT to get out of there simply because I can't stand the girl I'm living with. I've known her since I was five and she was three and she is simply the most selfish and thoughtless girl I've come across. No problem at all with walking into your room and borrowing underpants because she has no clean ones, using your toothbrush, the special shower products I got for my birthday, my razor, using my towels and then dumping them on her floor wet and going to bed and shutting the door so I can't get at them.

Rules are all well and good but only if people give a damn. Maybe it would be different if we weren't so close... perhaps she'd not take advantage of me if we weren't so comfortable with eachother. I tell you what, though - this friendship is on its last legs! [/color][/font]

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]........if someone ever used my toothbrush, I would RAPE them to DEATH.

I would not stop until there was broken pelvis shards littering the floor.

Do you know how unsanitary and DISGUSTING someone else's mouth is? And don't get me started on the underwear thing. That is how fun and exciting STDs get spread without the fun and exciting times right before infection sets in.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Ravenstorture]

[font="garamond"][color="darkgreen"]Oh I know, nRaiha. I know. So you understand how I feel.

Anyway. Think on this when you find a dirty dish left in the sink. A piece of optimism for you perhaps... "At least..." but that said, don't fall into the trap of counting your blessings and keeping your mouth closed, as I tend to do. Keep quiet to keep the peace. My friends scream, "Why don't you say something!" And sometimes I do. But I avoid tension... and look where it got me.[/font][/color]

[Rachmaninoff]

I can't stand being disorganized, so my bedroom and everything in it is nice and organized and clean. The same with my bathroom since my apartment is the type where each person has their own attached to their bedroom. I keep that nice and clean too. I don't mind a little clutter every now and then, but that's not the same as just being a slob.

Fortunately my two roommates are fairly neat, for a guy that is. Their rooms though not as clean as mine, at least don't reek since they usually clean things a couple of times a month and it's kind of an unwritten law that the kitchen and main room has to be kept uncluttered and neat. And for the most part they do, enough that I don't grip over the occasional dish in the sink since it doesn't happen very often.

I have had roommates in the past that were complete and total pigs, something that I've always complained to the management about when they've refused to keep their mess confined to their bedrooms. It's embarrassing and annoying to have your girlfriend over when the place is a mess. Anyway, for the moment, that's not an issue. Which is good since I like my roommates.

[Retribution]

[font=Arial]The rules you drafted seem to be reasonable, so long as they're agreed on by everyone. It goes without saying that slight compromises are what make coexistence possible.

My room mate is pretty good about staying on top of cleaning and such. I'm not really a neat-freak, but I do vacuum semi-regularly, and he obliges whenever I deem a cleaning necessary.[/font]

[Andrew]

[SIZE=1]That list doesn't look strict enough for my liking. You also forgot the part about lights you mentioned in your first post. For me, that always extends to sockets that aren't in use too. I hate wasting electricity to the point where I normally walk around in the dark unless it's necessary to find something.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]I say, you and me'd get on swimmingly if these rules were enforced and stuck to by everyone living there. Having said that, I'm lucky that I still live at home and the majority of this behaviour is already firmly set in my mother (which is where I got it). Although, my father and my sister really need to be hit over the head with something blunt and heavy when it comes to cleaning up after themselves. They're like dirty pigs, I swear.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=1]I also totally agree with the shoe thing. I'm in no way Chinese related or anything but I've always hated people wearing shoes indoors since I was old enough to wear shoes. It's exceptionally annoying.[/SIZE]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"][quote name='Andrew'][SIZE=1]I also totally agree with the shoe thing. I'm in no way Chinese related or anything but I've always hated people wearing shoes indoors since I was old enough to wear shoes. It's exceptionally annoying.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]It's funny here, you see, I like every single rule except this one. lol I do not take my shoes off inside. Except when I go to bed.

Though that's from needing special supports for my feet and that my feet get so damn cold that it's painful to run around without shoes. XP However, if I did have a roommate who insisted on it I would be willing to get a separate set that was only worn inside. Though if even that wasn't acceptable... I'd just live elsewhere.

The rest though, I'm the same way, I've had roommates who were utter pigs and I couldn't get them out soon enough. I've only had one roommate who was enough of a neat freak that she drove everyone nuts. But then she had unrealistic expectations. Like expecting me to clean the place from top to bottom right when I got back from a two week vacation. I flat out told her I wasn't cleaning up after her mess when I hadn't even been there!

That and she expected me to also clean the very next day after I had surgery on my knee and I told her I wouldn't be up to it for a while. She even went so far as to place the full trash can in front of my door and I nearly tripped over the damn thing when I went to use the restroom in the middle of the night. Since I hadn't even been home 24 hours after my surgery... I took that thing and opened her door and tossed on her as she was sleeping in her bed. Needless to say within a week we weren't roommates anymore. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[Andrew]

[SIZE=1]Those inside-shoe/slipper things or whatever you wanna call them are fine with me. Gotta keep your little feet warm now haven't you?[/SIZE]

[quote name='SunfallE'][FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode][COLOR=royalblue]...I took that thing and opened her door and tossed on her as she was sleeping in her bed. Needless to say within a week we weren't roommates anymore. [/COLOR][/FONT][/quote]

[SIZE=1]That is just plain awesome by the way![/SIZE]

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Well seeing as how I'm a born and bred asian girl, I HAVE to take off the shoes in the house. That and it's so dusty/muddy outside, wearing shoes inside would just be ridiculous. Besides, if the carpets don't stay clean, it'll be really expensive to get them cleaned when I move out someday.

But anyway there's nothing much else to report, except that my room mate is cleverly avoiding me and doing everything on the list so far. This is good.

......EDIT: New report.

Room mate Tomfoolery......

The townhouse complex where I live have been experiencing a series of real break-ins. In which stuff is robbed and property is damaged. A white male and a black male together work out of a U-Haul that's been seen outside/near the complex. They come in through open windows, the bathrooms upstairs, the sliding glass doors unsecured downstairs, etc. But when I tried to explain this report to my incredulous room mate, she did not believe me.

She said that she HAD to sleep with her window open at night, unsecured, and unlocked. She laughed at the very idea of someone coming in through the bathroom windows. She said that it was me who left the garage door unlocked when the garage door was already locked and closed from the inside. She said NOBODY could get in through her bedroom window when she lives above the garage where there's a wide flat surface for people to walk on. In fact, people have already walked across the roof and seen inside her room because she never closes her blinds, and didn't invest in curtains like me.

End result? I'm ready to scream obscenities at her and rip her hair out at the roots. I've never been this angry at her before. I came dangerously close to loosing my cool with her. I wanted to shout at her like an angry parent who had a child that doesn't see the danger in front of her. I content myself now with imaging the results of having someone break in through her window and just tossing her room without stealing anything. I realize that it's a monumentally stupid idea, but it'll help me cope. But as far as my own security goes. There is nothing to stand on outside my window. And my door locks. But now I'm considering seriously the purchasing of an extra dead bolt for when the lock is easily picked and a baseball bat for when the truly determined come in. ....Maybe an axe.

But seriously folks. I have no idea how much clearer I can make things for her.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Guest Joseph]

[FONT="Garamond"][COLOR="Red"]So far I haven't had to deal with a roommate..and with how my house is, I dont bother with much because of how my parents are. Now at my grandmas (technically my house, as the deed is in my name through a living will..just not entirely until she's gone.)I'm a lot more pickier on it.

I can understand these rules easily, same for the shoes thing. Not only is it respectful I think, it keeps 98% of wet muddy things off your carpet and keeps it clean more. Only problem on that though is sweaty smelly socks then.

But next fall when I move into the dorms, this should be interesting.[/COLOR][/FONT]