Landlord said "per room lease" but sent me one lease with four names on it

They're genuinely different. One lease with four names is a joint tenancy, the group owes the whole rent together, and if someone bails the remaining three are on the hook for the empty room. Per-room means four separate leases, each person owes their own rent, and the vacancy is yours. That seller has been running the easier version and calling it the harder one. In my little market people mostly do the group lease because there's no way I'm chasing four sets of paperwork on a house that rents for 900 total.

The part I'd chase is who picks the replacement roommate. Under the group lease the tenants do, and you inherit whoever they found. Under per-room leases you screen every incoming person yourself, which is more work and more control. Also worth asking him whether the four are on one utility account or whether he includes utilities in the room rent, because that's usually the tell for how the property actually operates day to day.