Roommate who moved out

[oakraiderz2]

There were 3 of us living in a house and one kid decided to lie to us about his dad needing his couch in order to show a house. The next day i saw he was moving his stuff out. Theres no clause in the lease that releases him from the lease. He believes that because he doesnt live there he doesnt have to pay rent, even though hes still on the lease. In addition to that he still has the key but refuses to pay for Jan or return the key until we get new roommates. We have two new roommates moving in but not until after jan. Im wondering if hes required to pay for Jan and the following months because hes still on the lease? Also, because he still has a key and access to the house, is he required to pay rent? I pretty much want to know how to get money out of his punk ass. Two of us cant pay $550 by ourselves. At first our landlord was on our side, but now he seems to have forgotten which one of us even moved out. I realize if he does file a lawsuit against us then we're all f*cked, but there have to be some other options.

 

[Effington]

First off, $550 for a three bedroom is crazy cheap, I am jealous! That being said...

Of course he is still responsible for rent, even if he decides to move out. However, there are a lot of questions and it really isn't a simple process. First off, are all three of you on the same lease? Most places have you all sign one lease. In that case, if you default on payment, all three of you are responsible, and the landlord can go after you, your roommate, or the guy who moved out. It was definitely a good idea to talk to your landlord about the situation, but that is not a guarantee of anything.

I'm going to guess that when the new roommates move in, they will replace his name on the lease. I am not positive here, but if the old tenants (your MIA roommate) does not turn in his keys, the landlord should change the locks. However, as long as his name is on the lease, he's still technically living there, should be allowed keys, and pay rent.

These situations suck, and they happen all the time, especially on college campuses. Get on the good side of your landlord and tell them what happened, and hopefully he/she will go after your other roommate. In the grand scheme of things, though, this is an extremely small amount of money so I doubt it will come to any legal charges; what are we talking about, $200?? That's a lot less than a lawyer would cost. If you have a campus law club, I'm sure they handle crap like this all the time. When I was in college the law club would handle landlord disputes for students for free.

I have been in similar situations before, and trust me, the fact that he shat on his two roommates (I assume you guys were friends) is more of a big deal than the $200 rent he's default on. If you guys were in similar circles and you explain what happened, it sucks more than a couple hundred dollars. This is why you don't screw around with friends about money, cause everyone always makes it out to a bigger deal than it really is.

 

[oakraiderz2]

I meant 550 for each of us. The landlord told us to get the new roommies to sign a new lease and drop it off to him. Theyre not gonna be on the lease that the 3 of us signed. This kid had his dad come to the house with him when he was trying to find a new roommate cause hes like a 12 year old girl. His dad restructured the lease so that he wouldnt have to pay and he tried to get us to sign it (which im pretty sure is illegal). My friend talked to the landlord and he said he was going to make the other kid pay and fill a suit if he didnt pay. I called him a few weeks later and he appearently forgot and said hes not picking sides. Hes a fast talking type who doesnt let you get a word in and seems to be only concerned with his money. If we have to we're willing to sue this kid for whatever we can. This kid is beyond immature, he moved out one day after telling us his dad was picking up his couch and hes a coward. My friends dad called his dad and left a voicemail to call him back, but he hasnt...like father like son.

 

[Effington]

I meant 550 for each of us. The landlord told us to get the new roommies to sign a new lease and drop it off to him. Theyre not gonna be on the lease that the 3 of us signed. This kid had his dad come to the house with him when he was trying to find a new roommate cause hes like a 12 year old girl. His dad restructured the lease so that he wouldnt have to pay and he tried to get us to sign it (which im pretty sure is illegal). My friend talked to the landlord and he said he was going to make the other kid pay and fill a suit if he didnt pay. I called him a few weeks later and he appearently forgot and said hes not picking sides. Hes a fast talking type who doesnt let you get a word in and seems to be only concerned with his money. If we have to we're willing to sue this kid for whatever we can. This kid is beyond immature, he moved out one day after telling us his dad was picking up his couch and hes a coward. My friends dad called his dad and left a voicemail to call him back, but he hasnt...like father like son.

Sorry man, you used too many pronouns, so it's a little confusing.

I understand that you are extremely upset at your friend and that he pulled a jackhole move by moving out, for whatever reason. Here's my brief story: had 3 awesome, hot female roommates, threw amazing parties, all was good. [We had separate leases] The next year, we were going to upgrade to an 8 bedroom house, all was peachy. I went to the landlord to sign the lease for next year and saw that I was lied to about who had actually signed the lease. I made a copy and called her on why she had lied (I was going to be the last to sign b/c I suspected her financial difficulties), and only four had signed when she said seven had (I didn't sign). I told her what the F and in a fit of rage, pushed her away and stormed out (in the other roommates' presence). She told my friends I punched her in the face and tried to sexually assault her. How messed up is that. End of the road, she did have financial difficulties, she skipped the state and has many creditors after her, and that fight was the last time I spoke to her. She was the hottest of the crew and I tapped it once, but damn she was crazy. So was her mom; we spent spring break with them in cocoa beach, where the mom was currently on her 7th marriage, to some rocket scientist who worked for NASA. But I digress.

You need to read over your revised lease. What does it say? It's not illegal for him to ask you to sign it; aren't you over 18? If so, you are allowed to enter into contracts. Make no mistake; all your landlord wants is his money, and I doubt he/she cares where it comes from. Is it a subcontracting contract? For your purposes, all you should care about is that you are not responsible for his part of rent. Yes, it sucks that he bailed and is an extreme inconvenience, and he's probably a jackhole for what he did. But trust me, there are soooooo many better ways to get back than legally/financially, which it sounds like he'd win anyway, since his dad was smart enough to redo a lease.

Chill, relax, let it go. As pissed as you are at him (trust me, I've been there) next time you see him, be nice. Say hey, what's up. Ask *nicely* what that whole thing was about, then you'll get the real deal instead of what his dad fed him to say to lawyers, which you interrogating him will sound like. And hey, maybe his friend knows a girl who has a girlfriend who you're interested in. Never burn bridges man.

Edit: I realize I come off as a hypocrit as I advise not to burn the bridge when I did so in my story, but hindsight is 20/20, right? I will try to get in touch with said girl if I can, but it really sounds like your bridge is much sturdier than mine. Mine is only held afloat by enormous tits, while yours has a golden parachute to slide down.