Your Roommate Score: Accountability That Works

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This Isn’t Surveillance

{{< pudding-sticky-quote attribution=“Denken, Founder” >}} “Whatever you commit to, you do — and the benefits follow.” {{< /pudding-sticky-quote >}}

The Problem With Roommates

{{< pudding-reveal direction=“left” >}} Everyone has a roommate story. The dishes piling up. The garbage nobody takes out. The bathroom that slowly becomes an archaeological dig.

It’s not that people are terrible. It’s that nobody agreed on the rules up front. Nobody committed. And when nobody committed, nobody’s accountable.

We fixed that. {{< /pudding-reveal >}}

How It Works: You Choose Your Level

{{< pudding-callout type=“insight” title=“Your Commitment, Your Choice” >}} When you apply for cooperative housing through Liana Banyan, you pick your commitment level for five household duties. Nobody assigns you anything. Nobody decides for you. You decide what you’re willing to do — and how often.

This isn’t a punishment system. It’s a promise system. The only person who sets your bar is you. {{< /pudding-callout >}}

The Five Duties + Four Tiers

{{< pudding-reveal direction=“right” >}} Every cooperative housing unit tracks five categories of household responsibility:

1. Dishwashing — keeping the sink clear
2. Garbage removal — taking it out before it becomes a problem
3. Kitchen hygiene — counters, stovetop, fridge
4. Bathroom hygiene — shared bathrooms stay usable
5. Common areas — living room, hallways, shared spaces

For each one, you choose your commitment tier: {{< /pudding-reveal >}}

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{{< pudding-callout type=“tip” title=“Higher Commitment = Better Placement” >}} Choose a higher tier and your Roommate Score goes up. A higher score means priority when rooms open up. It doesn’t mean you have to scrub floors daily — it means you CHOSE to, and you followed through. That’s worth something. {{< /pudding-callout >}}

The 10 Marks Pledge

Back Your Word With Marks

{{< pudding-reveal direction=“left” >}} Here’s where accountability gets real. When your application is approved, you pledge 10 Marks per week as an accountability deposit. Those Marks go into escrow — they’re still yours.

Clean week? Your Marks stay right where they are. Nobody touches them.

Valid complaint against you? Those escrowed Marks go to the housing cooperative fund — NOT to the person who complained.

That last part matters. A lot. {{< /pudding-reveal >}}

{{< pudding-flow steps=“Choose tier|Pledge 10 Marks/week|Follow through|Clean week = Marks stay yours|Complaint upheld = Marks go to cooperative fund” >}}

Why the Cooperative Fund — Not the Complainer?

{{< pudding-callout type=“insight” title=“No Incentive to Nitpick” >}} If your roommate got paid every time they filed a complaint against you, what would happen? They’d find something wrong every single day.

That’s not accountability. That’s a perverse incentive.

Forfeited Marks go to the housing cooperative fund — a shared pool that benefits the entire cooperative community. The complainer gets a cleaner kitchen. They don’t get your Marks. That keeps the system honest. {{< /pudding-callout >}}

Stamp Complaints: Evidence-Based, Not Drama-Based

How Complaints Work

{{< pudding-reveal direction=“right” >}} If a roommate isn’t following through on their commitment, you can file a Stamp — a formal, photo-evidenced complaint. Here’s how:

1. Take a photo — the system captures metadata (time, date) so there’s a record
2. Select the category — which of the five duties was neglected?
3. Describe the issue — brief, factual
4. Submit the Stamp — your roommate gets notified immediately {{< /pudding-reveal >}}

The 48-Hour Grace Period

{{< pudding-callout type=“note” title=“Fair Process” >}} Nobody loses Marks on a surprise. When a Stamp is filed, the respondent has 48 hours to:

• Accept it — acknowledge the lapse, forfeit proceeds
• Contest it — upload their own photos and explanation

If contested, a Steward (a designated cooperative community mediator) reviews both sides and makes a decision. The Steward’s resolution is final. {{< /pudding-callout >}}

Monthly Safety Cap

{{< pudding-stat number=“30” label=“Marks/Month Maximum Forfeit” sublabel=“Three valid complaints triggers Steward review. You’re protected from runaway penalties.” color=“blue” >}}

{{< pudding-reveal direction=“left” >}} Even if things go sideways, the system has a ceiling. Maximum forfeit: 30 Marks per month. That’s 3 valid complaints. If you hit 3 in one month, a Steward review is automatically triggered — not to punish you, but to figure out what’s going on and whether additional support or mediation is needed.

Nobody falls off a cliff here. The cap exists to protect you while still maintaining real accountability. {{< /pudding-reveal >}}

Your Roommate Score

Four Factors, One Number

{{< pudding-reveal direction=“right” >}} Your Roommate Score is a composite rating on a 0–5 scale that feeds directly into Liana Banyan’s reputation system. It’s calculated from four factors: {{< /pudding-reveal >}}

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Reciprocal Grading: Your Weight Depends on Your Weight

{{< pudding-callout type=“insight” title=“Chronic Complainers Get Discounted” >}} Here’s the clever part. When a roommate rates you, their rating is weighted by their own reputation. A roommate with a 4.8 score who says you’re great? That carries weight. A roommate with a 1.2 score who files stamps every other day? Their ratings are discounted.

This is mean-average reciprocity. Your credibility AS a rater depends on your own track record. The system self-corrects for bad actors. {{< /pudding-callout >}}

Why This Works

Voluntary, Transparent, and Self-Reinforcing

{{< pudding-reveal direction=“left” >}} Voluntary. Nobody forces you into a higher tier. Choose weekly if that’s what you can commit to. The system rewards ambition, but it doesn’t punish humility. A weekly commitment, done consistently, builds a great score over time.

Transparent. Every rule is published before you apply. The Marks pledge, the complaint process, the grace period, the cap, the score formula — all visible. No hidden penalties. No surprises.

Self-Reinforcing. Good roommates attract good roommates. High-score applicants get priority placement in high-score units. The cooperative naturally sorts toward reliability because the system makes reliability visible and valuable. {{< /pudding-reveal >}}

{{< pudding-sticky-quote attribution=“Denken, Founder” >}} “This isn’t surveillance — it’s a system where everyone knows the rules up front.” {{< /pudding-sticky-quote >}}

The Pitch

{{< pudding-stat number=“10” label=“Marks/Week” sublabel=“Pledge your commitment. Follow through. Keep your Marks.” color=“green” >}}

{{< pudding-reveal >}} Cooperative housing works when people show up — for themselves and for each other. The Roommate Accountability System doesn’t ask you to be perfect. It asks you to be honest about what you’re willing to do, and then to do it.

Whatever you commit to, you do — and the benefits follow.

Higher score. Priority placement. Better roommates. A cleaner home. All because you said what you’d do and then you did it. {{< /pudding-reveal >}}

Ready to Join?

Walk the Red Carpet — See the Roommate Accountability System in action. No membership required to browse.

{{< pudding-callout type=“sec” title=“Legal Notice” >}} Liana Banyan is a cooperative membership platform, not a securities offering. Marks are program credits earned through participation, not purchased securities, and cannot be exchanged for cash or external currency. The Roommate Accountability System is a voluntary program within cooperative housing; participation is optional. Forfeited Marks are transferred to the housing cooperative fund and are not redistributable to individual complainants. Roommate Scores are internal reputation metrics and do not constitute credit scores, financial ratings, or legally binding assessments. The 10 Marks/week pledge, 30 Marks/month cap, and all scoring weights described above are subject to program rules and may be adjusted. Records are maintained in a standard verified database ledger. {{< /pudding-callout >}}

References

• Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the Commons
• Sazama, G. (2000). Lessons from the History of Affordable Housing Cooperatives in the United States
• International Cooperative Alliance — Cooperative Principles (1995, revised 2015)
• Scholz, T., & Schneider, N. (2016). Ours to Hack and to Own

Liana Banyan Corporation — What we build together, we own together.

FOR THE KEEP.