Respecting Privacy in an Apartment Situation

Respecting the privacy of your roommates is important to creating a peaceful apartment living environment.

Part of the fun of moving into an apartment is sharing the space with friends. While there’s lots of good that can come from moving in with other students, there need to be rules in place to prevent infringing on the privacy of your roommates.

Here’s are five common invasions of privacy that can occur among roommates:

Using personal property without permission. The most often cited “offense” was the borrowing of clothing without permission. Although roommates often borrow clothes and trade favorite items for a fun night out, it’s one thing to do it with permission, and completely another to borrow without asking first. Keep tempers in check by always asking for permission before borrowing your roommate’s personal items.

The slob factor. More roommate arguments begin when messes are made and not cleaned up then just about anything else. This is an easy problem to avoid. Remember what they taught you in kindergarten: make a mess, clean it up.

Overnight guests. If you plan to have a guest stay the night, it’s common courtesy to clear it with your roommate. Nothing is worse than running into a stranger at night on the way to the bathroom. Be sure your roommates are aware of any visiting guests.

Missing food. Imagine coming home with a growling stomach and a hankering for the leftover pizza from last night and finding your apartment full of people with your roommate holding court over the stove. The empty pizza box is on the table, your macaroni and cheese is all but gone, and there’s only a crust of bread and a dollop of peanut butter left. Worst of all, you don’t get paid until Friday. Be sure to establish rules of the house for food items. The best rule: eat only what you bought yourself.

Lax security. It’s alarming to come home to an open apartment with no roommate in sight. Roommates need to agree to maintain basic security within the apartment. Keeping the door locked is critical to ensuring safety in an apartment and keeping arguments to a minimum.

These are just a few of the invasions of privacy that can occur. Do you have any other examples of invasions of privacy? Let us know about them in the comment section below.