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roommate moving out, how do i avoid being screwed?
Barcardi
All the WizardsUnder A Rock: AfganistanRegistered User regular
All the WizardsUnder A Rock: AfganistanRegistered User regular
So yesterday my roommate announced that due to his financial issues and relationship issues he will be moving out of our apartment and in with his 1 year girlfriend (who he essentially lives with anyway). In reality this is not a personal thing between the two of us, although i do suspect that he does have something against me, because he is one of those types that shit talks everyone behind their back and generally dislikes the world, but in a passive aggressive way.
We live in a apartment complex with very tight rules on moving in and out. We signed a year lease. According to him: According to the rules if one of us renegs on the rent, or moves out early, etc. we have to pay for the entire year + 1 more month. For his part he says he does not want to screw me on this. So he claims that he is now looking for a replacement roommate for me. He claims that if he cannot find one he wont be able to move out officially, but he will move. TLDR he is doing everything in his power to help me out in this situation. But he has not contacted the apartment company. They have both of our signatures on paper saying we will live there for the full year. He say that at earliest he will leave in 30 days, latest is when he finds someone to replace him.
Now, i don't necessarily trust him to help me much on the new roommate situation. Not because he is not a friend, but because he IS a friend. I know him pretty well, and he is pretty much unmotivated to do anything, especially confrontational things or hard to do things. So if he does he might just try to get the first person that calls him, if anyone.
Questions:
My first question: If neither of us has contacted the apartment company yet, would it be wise if i called them up and asked them what their policy was on one person moving out? Or could the apartment people see this as a reason to fine me/stick me with the entire rent, as i am the one that stays? Or will he be the one up shit creek as he is leaving? (state of California)
2nd: Is there any way, in the state of California, if both of us have signed, that i can be stuck with the entire bill? Am i missing anything here?
3rd: what steps should/can i take to ensure that i do not get a shitty new roommate? Do i have any say in this matter or am i stuck with whoever he chooses? Who's responsibility is this?
4th: are there any places, other than/more reputable than craigslist, that i can look for new roommates with some background info? Or is craigslist a solid place to look?
5th: sometime soon, if ever, new prospective roommates will come calling, how should i interview them, what should i ask about? How can i check up on them before saying yes?
We live in a apartment complex with very tight rules on moving in and out. We signed a year lease. According to him: According to the rules if one of us renegs on the rent, or moves out early, etc. we have to pay for the entire year + 1 more month. For his part he says he does not want to screw me on this. So he claims that he is now looking for a replacement roommate for me. He claims that if he cannot find one he wont be able to move out officially, but he will move. TLDR he is doing everything in his power to help me out in this situation. But he has not contacted the apartment company. They have both of our signatures on paper saying we will live there for the full year. He say that at earliest he will leave in 30 days, latest is when he finds someone to replace him.
Now, i don't necessarily trust him to help me much on the new roommate situation. Not because he is not a friend, but because he IS a friend. I know him pretty well, and he is pretty much unmotivated to do anything, especially confrontational things or hard to do things. So if he does he might just try to get the first person that calls him, if anyone.
Questions:
My first question: If neither of us has contacted the apartment company yet, would it be wise if i called them up and asked them what their policy was on one person moving out? Or could the apartment people see this as a reason to fine me/stick me with the entire rent, as i am the one that stays? Or will he be the one up shit creek as he is leaving? (state of California)
2nd: Is there any way, in the state of California, if both of us have signed, that i can be stuck with the entire bill? Am i missing anything here?
3rd: what steps should/can i take to ensure that i do not get a shitty new roommate? Do i have any say in this matter or am i stuck with whoever he chooses? Who's responsibility is this?
4th: are there any places, other than/more reputable than craigslist, that i can look for new roommates with some background info? Or is craigslist a solid place to look?
5th: sometime soon, if ever, new prospective roommates will come calling, how should i interview them, what should i ask about? How can i check up on them before saying yes?
Barcardi on
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I host a podcast about movies.
Possible problems that i can forsee..
1. Once your friend moves out, what compels him to maintain his half of the rent?
2. Are there any rule about subletting the apartment? essentially this is what you are proposing.
3. At the end of this lease, will you be moving out? if you are staying you will have to sign a new lease. If you have not informed your land lord that your room mate is leaving and you have a new room mate at this time. You may find that the land lord is not interested in renting to this new person and may be in a bind at that time.
1) That would be wise. They'll certainly connect the dots, but it's always better to be informed.
2) Yes, your landlord can bill you the entirety of your contract. Furthermore, he *may* be able to have you removed from your apartment entirely, which would suck. Then you'd owe all your rent + you'd be out of a place to sleep.
3) Most places allow you to "swap" a roommate out. Basically if you go and find someone to live in your current roommates place, and they pass whatever application process your landlord has, they can assume the balance of your current roomies contract.
4) Facebook has a marketplace thingy for people looking for rooms I believe. Other than that, I don't know of any. Sorry.
5) Ask them whatever you'd like. Probably your best bet is to have them actually apply to your leasing office (they will check the financial aspect, credit score, etc) and then talk to the person yourself. It'd be a bit inappropriate to ask about their finances, so let your landlord handle that. Focus on the habits and such of the person. Are they generally clean or unorganized? Etc etc etc.
I would also try to set a firm move out date, because it could happen that you line somebody up, and he's unwilling to move, or being slow about it. And though it does put you on ice, it at least makes it so you're not wondering when he's going to be out.
If my roommate does not pay, or does not find another person to pay, we are liable and get evicted and go to eviction court... upon witch bad things happen to his and my credit for years. So actually it is in everyone's interest that he (and me) look for a good new roommate, because i can screw him just as much as he screws me. Also because i can take him to small claims if he just up and leaves, because i can probably pay the rent myself, but i don't want to and wont agree to.
Also apparently the 30 days notice has to be in advance, signed, and on paper.
Good idea to let the apartment people do the background checks... also good idea to set a firm move out date.
What about keeping this whole mess civil? What should i avoid doing that would tick off the guy that is leaving... or what should i keep on top of that would keep him in line...least he go bust on me?
The steps are also there to protect him as well, to make sure that his $$ is protected. Unfortunately, if he wants to get out quick, he just needs to jump through the hoops faster.
so that does work for me... and him hopefully.
Essentially, I worked with them to try to find a roommate that they would approve of. The understanding that we used was that if we couldn't find one, I would continue to pay rent through the end of the lease regardless of where I was living, so I was very motivated to make sure a new roommate was found.
I used the typical web based roommate sites (craigslist included) to find people looking to rent. I had specific criteria from my roommates ahead of time (gender, student/professional, willingness to adhere to house rules which were predefined). What ended up happening is that I presented them with several options. They didn't like any of them and then found someone on their own pretty quickly. Since I wasn't going to be living with them, I wasn't as good a filter for applicants.
We did the personal type of interviews before ever involving our landlord except for letting them know that someone would be taking over my spot in the lease. The assumption was that if the person couldn't pay or didn't pass whatever approval criteria was set forth by the landlord, we would go back to square one.
Based on what you've communicated, I think if you set similar expectations with your roommate, you should set yourself up to be in a good situation. Good luck.