Question about the structure of leases in the Medford/Somerville area:
So, long story short I am moving from halfway across the country to Boston for graduate school. I'll be paid pretty decently and I am looking for an apartment that I can afford, which is in the $800-900 range per month. To get a place that I can afford it looks like I will need to be in a 4-5 bedroom place. I'm fine with this, but every landlord I have talked to about signing the lease has been doing something that I think is quite unusual.
In the college town I am leaving, in a multi-room apartment where people who aren't related are renting the lease is always divided by room. Meaning you only sign a lease that requires you pay for your room. Every landlord in the Medford/Somerville area that I have spoken with wants me to sign a lease for the full value of the apartment. So for a 5 bedroom apartment where I would be paying $900 a month for my room, the lease I am signing makes me equally responsible for the full value of $4500 a month with the other roommates. This means if one of my roommates couldn't pay they could come after me for his rent. This seems like bullshit and way too risky of a lease for me to sign. As my income is only half the full value of the lease each month. Is this normal in the area? It seems like a really stupid way to do things (from the renters perspective).