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Roommate Skipped Town
Mai-Kero
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I recently moved into my first shared apartment with two friends. It is a glorious place in every way. I made two excellent choices. One was picking the apartment, and the second was choosing my friend Casey, who is awesome, fun, responsible and makes more money than me. I also made one terrible choice. My second Roommate was my friend Ryan, who sent me a text message when I was at work telling me that he was moving out because "I never have any money anymore and this seems like a huge waste." This was two months into the year lease that we all signed.
Casey was convinced that we could just go to the landlord and they would go after Ryan for being a delinquent piece of shit. I was very sure that they would do all of nothing, because as long as someone on the lease is still living at the apartment, they know they can make whoever is left pay up. The lease was signed with a requirement to pay three months rent if it is broken, and Casey wants to pursue Ryan for exactly that much.
So far Ryan has shown signs of being sorry that he moved in and then left us hanging, and has 2/3s of the second month's rent that he owes. I'm fairly confident he'll cough up the remaining third, but I very, very much doubt he'll give anymore.
At this point, do we really have any options? He moved all his stuff out so we can't sell it. The landlord says that they can't do anything. Harassing him is probably illegal. I doubt we have any legal standing. Pretty much the only thing I can think of is to ask his parents to pay his share, because he moved back in with them and is 20.
Is there any point in us taking him to court? I kind of think that won't get us anything and will be really expensive.
Casey was convinced that we could just go to the landlord and they would go after Ryan for being a delinquent piece of shit. I was very sure that they would do all of nothing, because as long as someone on the lease is still living at the apartment, they know they can make whoever is left pay up. The lease was signed with a requirement to pay three months rent if it is broken, and Casey wants to pursue Ryan for exactly that much.
So far Ryan has shown signs of being sorry that he moved in and then left us hanging, and has 2/3s of the second month's rent that he owes. I'm fairly confident he'll cough up the remaining third, but I very, very much doubt he'll give anymore.
At this point, do we really have any options? He moved all his stuff out so we can't sell it. The landlord says that they can't do anything. Harassing him is probably illegal. I doubt we have any legal standing. Pretty much the only thing I can think of is to ask his parents to pay his share, because he moved back in with them and is 20.
Is there any point in us taking him to court? I kind of think that won't get us anything and will be really expensive.
Mai-Kero on
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If I remember previous PA threads like this, if he's in the lease, he's responsible. If not, you're out of luck.
Absolutely.
You can definitely make him cough up the three month's he's due, but once he's paid that, his contractual obligations are fulfilled. He's still a douchebag for flaking on you like that, but you can at least get the 3 months.
Small claims court is cheap.
Salmon for (most likely) lies. The key words you're looking for in the lease are "joint liability." If those magic words show up, then the landlord will do exactly as you suggested in the OP - not give a flying fuck who's living there, and will go after any remaining tenant(s) for the full sum. If, however, you all have individual agreements, which is incredibly unlikely, then yes, they have to go after him specifically.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
Of course, if you don't want to go after him for the money and just want to eat it, that's okay too, but you should probably start looking for a third roommate now anyway.
I do want to go after him for the money, because three months is very reasonable, and the only friend we share is his girlfriend, who I hooked him up with and agrees that he owes me the money. I'll of course ask him first, and try calling his parents to let them know what we plan on doing to see if we can fix it without court.
To reiterate: He did sign the lease. I don't recall seeing a mention of joint liability, but I'll check.
Would I just need a copy of the lease for small claims court? And how do they make him pay? His rent was only $276 a month, and he works part time at target. I'd bet his monthly income varies anywhere from $500-1000 a month depending on his hours. It seems like the court would just be like "Oh snaps too poor he doesn't owe anything."
That being said, if what he owes is more than he can pay, any judgement they would make in your favor could be pretty meaningless. Blood from a stone, and all that.
However, if you're willing to take the money in installments, going to court might be ok, because they could probalby set up a payment schedule and require him to stick to it. I'd probably try to work something like that out with him directly before trying the legal route, and then if he refuses or doesn't keep up with the payments, then resort to a judge.
Anyway, if you're still talking to this guy I'd give him the option of working a payment plan with you for the amount due. If he refuses, go for the small claims court. At least then you've given him ample opportunity to make things right.
Edit: Beat'd by Nerissa. At least we're both thinking alike! Wait, that might be bad...
Akron, Ohio. Ohio sucks, but this is in a fairly neat, albeit small, town/city. We're in a building right next to an incredible cool coffee shop, a neat icecream/italian food place (weird combination), a neat chinese place, like four hipster bars, a music studio, a badass public library, a metro burger, and a chipotle. It is perfectly located. It's cheap because the building is super old, but we're already friends with our downstairs and upstairs neighbors, so creaking on the hardwood floors isn't an issue. We all hang out on the balcony to talk and smoke (for those who do that here). It's pretty much the coolest place I've ever lived. Not saying much because I've lived two places, but I'm having a ridiculous amount of fun. Except for the money thing.
I guess the question is, do you want to risk your friendship with this person over ~$800. It's totally up to you, I would probably say yes in your situation but that's just me. I'm kind of a jerk when it comes to personal accountability, and the lack-thereof.
The guy already threw away the friendship by pulling this huge dick move.
OP, at least with 8 months left on the lease, there's a decent chance you could find an extra person, right?
Or are you guys figuring on not replacing him?
We'll have someone for sure in March, although were were hoping to find someone a bit sooner. The march timeline would coincide perfectly if Ryan pays up the three months worth that he owes.
1. Find a roommate ASAP
2. Make him find a roommate (you will probably be unahappy with whoever he finds)
3. Take him to small claims court for rent. You will likely have to show that you made an effort to minimize damages by trying to find a new roommate as quickly as possible. It sounds like you aren't really doing that.
This is a total dick move. I hate people who walk on stuff they went into with their eyes open.
Small claims court is easy. It's judge judy, without the stupid drama. The court clerk will have you fill out a form explaining what damages you're seeking, and you can easily represent yourself.
This might become a hassle if he actually has skipped town to some faraway place, but probably not that much of one as long as he hasn't decamped to siberia or something.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Expect to have to explain why you didn't try to find a replacement roommate immediately, though.
My understanding is that they aren't actually seeking back rent, they're seeking the penalty for leaving early per the lease. Not that you shouldn't be seeking a new roommate, but I'm not sure that it will matter for your purposes.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
If you break your lease you're only liable while the landlord finds someone to occupy the apartment and only if the landlord can prove he's put in an effort to find a suitable replacement. The penalty is based on months of rent because it is, basically, rent that the party would be out should the person bail like this.
In this case, though, the lease won't technically be broken to the landlord, just the one person breaking it and putting his roommates in a spot. So he'll owe them, and they still have to put in the effort to find a replacement.