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(RI) When multiple tenants are leasing an apartment, how is legal responsibility for rent divided?

For reference, I live in Providence, RI. I am looking into getting an apartment with roommates, and hopefully this won't be an issue, but I am curious--if three people have their names on a lease as tenants, are they each automatically only responsible for one third of the total rent? Or, if one of those three neglects payment (but still remains on the lease), are the remaining two responsible for covering the entire cost? Also, a secondary and possibly related question--is it possible for a person to live in an apartment and pay rent, but not be signed on to the lease? I am asking this mostly due to issues with credit background checks (a potential roommate has poor credit, and I don't know if that would affect the probability of us as a group renting an apartment if he was signed on as a tenant). I'm not sure how these rules vary by state, but I used to live in Delaware, and if I recall correctly, the last place I lived had different forms for "tenants" (obligated to pay rent; credit checks run on application) vs. "residents" (legally allowed to live in the apartment, rent-paying or not).

Public Comments

1. LEGALLY, you are each individually responsible for the entire lease and the rent. The landlord could care less how the three of you decide to split the rent amongst yourselves. YOU would have to sue the roommate who did not pay....not the landlord. Having someone live there who is not on the lease, is a breach of the lease agreement and can result in you being thrown out. NEVER a good idea.
2. Yes, all three are entitled to rent. If someone is not on the lease they are not legally liable to pay rent but may "help" with rent. I would make a personal contract with the person not on the lease, have it signed dated, copied, and witnessed. All for legal purposes.
3. The landlord is to be paid the full rent for the month. Whether 3 pay or 2 pay is not landlord's problem but the roommates. You would have to sue the deadbeat yourself. No all those 18 or older must sign the lease. A background and credit check is done on all adult as a matter of safety and security.
4. There is no law dictating how you will split rent. The rent will be set, divided by you, not the landlord. If it is short all 3 will be evicted. No one can live in the property without the consent of the landlord. It is up to the landlord if they will require a lease, 90% will. 90% will also check people out and not allow someone like him into their property.
5. How the rent is split is strictly between the roommates. The lease does not dictate who must pay what. The lease will only state all those on the lease & the total rent due. Yes, if any one roommate does not pay the other roommates must pay the balance. The landlord does not care who pays what so long as the total is paid
6. READ the lease Normally the tenants have Joint and Several Liability to LL, meaning each can be held liable for entire rental amount . . . regardless how they agree amongst themselves to divvy up the rent. . . such as couple sharing a room each paying slightly less than one person with room of their own. . . . Generally it is a violation for a person to occupy an apartment and NOT be on the lease. . . .if the LL knows and accepts rent, may be OK
7. A lease COULD split the rent up between each tenant. It is not common and not in the landlord's best interest to do so. So as other's have said in typical/standard cases everyone is jointly reasonable. 'Landlord' is correct that all those living in the place do NOT need to be on the lease. They do need to be approved by the landlord though. It would be wise if you leave someone off the lease from a financial standpoint to have a written agreement with the landlord as to other people allowed to live there. It would also be smart to have an agreement between yourself and said roommate in regards to their financial obligations (rent, etc).