Pre-Approval for a Rental Property When Splitting a High Rent

[James Win]

I looked to get pre-approved for a mortgage and was denied because of my current rent. I rent an apartment with a roommate and pay around $1600 a month, with the total amount around $3200. We are both on the lease, so the bank is counting the full $3200 because i could be held liable for that. The lease doesn't seem to have any specific language about what happens if one person skips town. I have good credit, a fairly high income, and if they counted the $1,600 I would qualify for a fairly large loan.

Has this ever happened to anyone? I have a smaller lender saying they might be able to count just the half of it that I actually pay but haven't heard back.