Renting to a roommate in my owner occupied apartment

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Hi, 

I recently took the plunge and bought my first piece of property last week. It's a duplex, I have the top apartment rented and I'm owner occupied in the second unit. To add some extra cashflow, firstly, am I allowed to legally rent out a room in my unit and will I not have any insurance problems if my mortgage is an owner occupied conventional loan? Secondly, should I have a roommate lease agreement in place if I do rent it out? 

I currently reside in NYC and will be travelling very seldom to the property which is located in Connecticut. If anyone as any other creative solutions or past experiences on how to possible increase cashflow, it would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks.