I decided to wait one more year to save up more money for a down payment on a house and my roommate decided 5 month into the lease that he would move back home.
We both signed the lease and now I’m stuck paying his part of the rent. He’s been a complete flake as of late, and I’ve informed the landlord of the situation. She told me that she’s very sorry, but I’m still responsible for the full amount of rent. It seems as though my options are to pay his part of the rent or break the lease, lose my security deposit, pay a fee and take a big hit on my credit. This is exactly what I don’t want to do right before I buy a house.
She told me that my best bet would be to sue him in small claims court. I’ve been looking into this, and I think I have a good chance of winning, but would it be worth it? Would I need to miss a lot of work to follow through with this? If I win, how difficult is it to collect? He has a full time job, but doesn’t own anything of significant value.
I would probably sue for 3 months worth of rent, and damages he has done to his room. He never paid the pet deposit and his girlfriends dog pissed all over the room and shredded the blinds and chewed off some of the trim around his bedroom door.
I’d hate to have to sue someone, but I don’t want him to think he can just bail out like this and not take responsibility for it.
Has anyone else ever been through this? What can I do?
take him to court… it sucks if that’s how the situation will have to come to light… naturally you’d hope that he’d just man up and pay the rent… what sucks is that a lease does not designate ownership of payment… meaning $1000 a month over two people doesn’t, by law, mean $500 each… it just means that both of you are responsible to see that the rent payment is made… to truely screw him, you’d have to screw yourself… its’ sad to have to take it to court, but chances are you’d get his percentage of rent… i’d take him… the court order paperwork might be enough for him to start paying? as sad as it is, have you contacted his parents?
taking it to claims will resolve it… chances are you’ll be out of the apartment by the time you see the money, but if you push the issue (get an attorney) they can get it moving… there are some attorneys on here that might help… good luck, i’d file a claim and get the paperwork in the mail… let him know that you can’t just walk away from commitments… people suck.
because he isn’t living there and isn’t offering to pay… no hit on credit because the lease didn’t break… are you retarded? this is on-topic, try to read into it a little more than trying to be a smartass… kthx
1st threaten him you’ll take it to court by saying that he better have money in your hand by a certain date for the month’s rent and he should continue to pay you until the lease has ended. if no money by the date i would contact an attorney to have them send the doche a letter of intent. basically stating that if he takes no action within a time frame then he’ll be going to court to settle the matter. if i were you and he didn’t pay i’d take it to court, no doubt!
I’ve seen this happen on the People’s Court more times than I can remember. Be sure to send him a certified letter letting him know that you still expect him to pay for X amount of months until the lease THAT HE signed is fulfilled. Whether he is living there or not. If that does not produce results then you can use the judicial path to claim your money. But hopefully that gets results before you need to actually go through court.
But by seeing the amount of people on People’s Court with this situation… I’d venture to say he has no intentions of paying.
Cert. letter will win your case in court. NEVER walk into court w/ he said she said shit. You will piss the judge off and waist his time. If you go in there fully prepared he will close the case quickly and in your favor. It sucks you have to take these measures…but its what you have to do. besides if he moved back in w/ mommy and daddy…they will more than likely get the letter and possibly make him handle his debt. You can hope anyways, good luck!
I’m trying to be as nice as I can about this. I told him I wouldn’t expect any money for utilities, and I’m only asking that he pay 3 months rent instead of the remaining 5 months that we still have on the lease.
Should I sue for the full 5 months that remain? I could possibly find another roommate, but I’d have to advertise and find someone I could live with, then the landord would have to do a background check, fill out paper work etc… and finally this person would have to agree to signing a lease thats for only a few months.
It doesn’t sound reasonable to me.
In retrospect, I should have had him sign some sort of agreement.
Contacting his parents is a possiblilty, but I feel that we’re both adults and it shouldn’t have to involve them.
I just don’t want to go to court, pay an attorney and end up paying more in legal fees than I collect from him. I’ve never been to court for anything so I’m unclear on how this process works.
He never answers my calls and ocassionally sends me a text message saying he’ll stop by to get the rest of his things. I would love to talk to him about it, but like I said, he’s being a complete flake.
He also has a key to the house. So now I’ll have to change the locks.
Thanks for the replies. It’s very much appreciated.
Is a certified letter just something that states my intent or possibly a deal? This is something I’m going to have to research so I can make sure it’s done right.
use that as your altimatim if you want…either pay for 3mths now or go to court and be sued for 5mths worth. if he refuses try his parents. if he still refuses send the ‘letter of intent’ via an attorney. if you need an attorney go to this site http://www.acba.org/ and at the top click on ‘For the Public’ and select ‘Need an Attorney?’ or there is a phone number you can call and they will give you a name and number for an attorney that specializes in that area. on first contact with attorney it’s $25 for 30 mins and then its their rate after that. that first 30 mins is basically you telling them what happened and yada yada yada. probably a good first step if dude refuses to pay.
a letter of intent or certified letter will basically state that if you don’t receive the money owed by a specific date then certain actions will be taken i.e. court
if a deal isn’t made within a certain time frame then further actions will be taken
What I meant by a certified letter is just a letter you type up in a professional manner stating exactly what needs to be done and then sent through certified US Postal mail. Sending it certified gives you proof that it was sent and delivered. That way he can’t say “oh, I never got it. It must of got lost in the mail” Keep an exact copy for your records obviously. If you really want to cover your ass, send one to yourself certified, and never open it. If it comes down to it - you take that to court and open it in front of the judge. (basically so he cannot provide a fake version of the letter in court or something totally outrageous). I don’t see how you’d need an attorney at all for this. Even if it does end up in court - it will be small claims court where council is not necessary.
I called a few attorneys yesterday and all of them said they would be happy to take my case, but consultation fees are between $100 and $200 for the first hour. I can’t afford to be spending money on lawyers if I don’t need one. So it won’t be necessary to have one?
There’s nothing I can really hold as collateral. He has an old TV, some drawers to his desk, junk like that.
They BOTH signed. I guess you didn’t read that part.
I did read into it, and since you apparently rode the short bus, I’ll spell it out for you. I don’t know anything about the specifics of the lease, but it would make sense to me that they should both be liable, otherwise having them both sign was utterly useless. If they both signed, but the OP is the only one liable, it seems like a bullshit lease.
Here’s a clue, signing the lease doesn’t mean you have to live there, so that has nothing to do with anything. Oh…he’s not offering to pay, who gives a shit, he signed the lease.
I’m not being a smartass. Now you try not to be such a dumbass and we can all get along.