COMMITMENTS : Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match

Going through a roommate service, in which individuals are screened, references are checked and people are matched based on questionnaires, is one way of trying to ensure a safer start with a roommate, said Maxine Nelson, owner of Roommate Finders, a computerized matching service covering the Los Angeles area.

For a $99 fee that covers three months’ service, clients are matched up in as little as a few days by compatibility criteria such as whether they want to live with a smoker or nonsmoker, if they want a private bathroom and what price range they can afford. Roommate Finders receives more than 100 calls a day, Nelson said.

“It’s safer for everybody. We check references, we check driver’s licenses. We check to see if they’ve been good about paying rent,” Nelson said. “We make sure, say, if someone is moving out here from Arizona that they’re not coming from a mental hospital or just got out of jail.”

Allan Herman, an Encino accountant, has used the service.

“They seem to locate high-quality people,” he said. “If you’re a little nervous about finding a roommate, which you should be in L.A., this is a good way to do it.”

Herman added that even though roommates are helping pay the mortgage on his home, he wants them to feel like they belong.

Another service, Roommate Express, based in Costa Mesa, serves the entire state, with sister companies throughout the country.

The fee is from $34 to $69. An application includes a questionnaire developed by Consulting Psychologist Press Inc. that rates personality types to better gauge compatibility.

Roommate Matchers is a West Hollywood business that for about $39 provides a shared housing service for gays. In any given week, about 800 people are listed as seeking roommates through the company, said founder Gary Reed. He added that it was a chance for those having similar lifestyles to find a nicer place to live because they share costs.

“What’s important to the clients is that they find someone who can pay the rent. We offer listings and also have photographs of people as well,” Reed said. Although about 95% of clients are gay males and about 5% are lesbians, he said, “sometimes we have straight females who prefer to live with gay males because they don’t feel intimidated, as they do with straight males.”