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Do I have a Case?
Jeice
regular
regular
I know I should consult a lawyer and stuff, but I want to know that I even have a chance before talking to one.
3 of my friends and I signed a one year lease to this house, starting from September 2008 to August 2009. Now, one of my friends moved to Korea about 3 months ago, and I've been trying to find a subletter since. We got different subletters for the months of January to April. May is coming up so my friend will now need to pay me his share of the rent.
The tricky thing is, he is in Korea. However, I know where his parents live and have their numbers. I tried talking to them about the situation and I want them to pay me the money their son will owe me, however they say it's not their problem and that it is between me and their son. But, their son won't contact me back and it does not look like he is going to pay. So, in the worst case scenario, I was thinking of suing the parents for the money their son will owe me (he doesn't technically owe me anything until May 1st) . Can I do this?
3 of my friends and I signed a one year lease to this house, starting from September 2008 to August 2009. Now, one of my friends moved to Korea about 3 months ago, and I've been trying to find a subletter since. We got different subletters for the months of January to April. May is coming up so my friend will now need to pay me his share of the rent.
The tricky thing is, he is in Korea. However, I know where his parents live and have their numbers. I tried talking to them about the situation and I want them to pay me the money their son will owe me, however they say it's not their problem and that it is between me and their son. But, their son won't contact me back and it does not look like he is going to pay. So, in the worst case scenario, I was thinking of suing the parents for the money their son will owe me (he doesn't technically owe me anything until May 1st) . Can I do this?
Jeice on
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Sigh... am I fucked? Is there anything I can do?
Yeah, you can sue your friend.
Agreed. And perhaps, in the long run, it's not worth destroying a friendship over...
A friend worth having wouldn't fuck you out of rent.
My world view allows for friends that occasionally make mistakes.
So, what's the lesson here? Next time, should I not trust anyone and get my own separate agreement so I won't have to worry about stuff like this? Or, should I continue to have faith in others and write this off as a once in a life time thing that'll never happen again?
1. He moved to a different country and failed to pay what I assume is several hundred dollars of rent
2. He's not responding
3. His parents are stonewalling the OP (although I wouldn't have asked them for the rent directly)
Have you tried asking his parents whether he actually intends to pay the rent, or how to get in touch with him?
It's possible that he's arranged some kind of payment for the last minute, but come May 1st I'd be prepared to just write off both the money and the friend. I don't know why people do this, but I've seen a lot of cases where people refuse to pay their final rent and then just lie outright about it. So I would not recommend the continuing to have faith approach, and would not count on it never happening again in your lifetime.
EDIT: Ideally there would be a month's deposit involved in any situation where someone could screw you out of a month's worth of rent. Was there no deposit on your lease?
Are you fucking serious? In this day and age, if someone is avoiding something like this, he is deliberately screwing you out of hundreds of dollars. It's not like he can't reach him, or isn't aware of the situation (he knew he owed rent when he left). Fortunately, I think the OP will have a case to sue the guy when he gets back, even after the fact. Just preserve copies of the lease, etc.
PSN: TheScrublet
He still has a week to get the OP the money. He's not a month late, he's not a day late, he's not a minute late. I don't know what kind of deal he worked out with the OP... frankly, the notion that the OP would let the guy leave without making provisions for this makes him an idiot.
So, uh, yeah, I guess I am fucking serious.
Edit: and normally I'd be with you on the "he's not late yet" card, but his stonewalling parents are a very bad sign.
PSN: TheScrublet
To answer your question though, You probably do have a case against this friend.
He is not a good friend if he is willing to fuck the OP out of hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Well, I would have been like, hey dude, what about your fucking rent? Also, the guy left three months ago, it's not like this was some kind of big surprise here.
Someone who fucks off and leaves you responsible for paying thousands of dollars is not a good friend.
Someone who fucks off and leaves you responsible for paying 20 dollars is not a good friend. Someone who apologizes deeply when you have to spot them five because they forgot their wallet? That's a good friend. The amount of money is less important than their behavior.
As for the people who are all, "abloo bloo I'd never leave a friend": If the dude defaults on his share of the rent, he is not a friend. Period. Keeping someone on who has shown a willingness to dick somebody hard like that is a cry for help more than anything else.
Well, the arrangement was we would try and find someone to live in his stead in those three months. And, in the case we didn't find anybody, he would just pay the rent. The surprise is, the worst case scenario did happen, but he won't pay. In retrospect, I could have asked him for post-dated cheques, but I didn't think he would bail like this.
I'm trying really hard to keep faith, telling myself he still has a week and everything will turn out fine. But, I've been trying to contact him for the past month and I'm not getting any response. I've been able to contact him before, but know just flat out nothing. I just want something. A response saying he's on it, he sent it in the mail, he needs my address. Anything! And, what pisses me off even more is that he recently contacted one of our other room mates (these two guys are better friends than me and him), but he still won't contact me.
Another thing that's irritating me is that my parents suggested that I protect myself more in case something like this happens. And, I remember I got annoyed at them and told them that these guys are my friends and won't bail on me. I guess I was too naive.
I don't even know what I'm saying anymore. I think I'm just venting...
I still don't think you'll be able to get the money, but at least now I think the ex-roommate is as big a douche as everyone else here.
If you think this, you are a moron. If you see someone post this, and you agree with it, guess what? I bet your friends are using you. And you are ok with it! Good job!
To OP: don't dismiss this as "venting". You have every right to be pissed. This sucks. Unfortunately, the only solution to this is to cover your bases early. If you know a roommate is leaving early, you either trust him, or make him cover his shit. My guess is from now on you will go with "cover your shit". either way, if you can't serve him, you have to wait till he comes back. And unfortunately, I bet the hassle it costs to get him in court is going to wind up costing you more money (and time) than its worth
And honestly, every single person in this thread who says "it's a good friend just forgive him" is a fucking idiot.
PSN: TheScrublet
Since when did help and advice become about putting other people down? You've got your opinion and I've got mine.
Thousands is probably a bad example, but I've seen enough good friendships ruined in my life by pettiness that... well, its just really sad the things people will get worked up over. So far, OP is out 4th roommates share of cash x 1 month. Well, perhaps. We'll know in a week or so. I guess.
you pretty much are out of luck in terms of filing a claim against this guy if he's out of the U.S.
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