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Hi Posting people. I have a roommate advice question all responses are welcomed and encouraged. I have a 31 year old roommate, that has a 21 year old gf (high school dropout) he moved her in a year ago without anyone ele's approval or permission, but I digress that's not the newest problem. The newest problem stems from our lease obligations ending on Aug 31st. However, having all of this knowledge he went out with the kid gf and got a new apartment that they are scheduled to move into on Jun 1st. I know makes no sense well the problem I have is that he came to me a few days ago and told me he's not going to pay his rent at our current residence once he moves. Basically he is going to skip out on the rent for two months. I kindly told him the other day that it is his fault and only his fault that he's in the situaiton as he presisted in blaming everyone from the land lord to Santa Clause for his lack of good decision making. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I should deal with such an immature 31 year old roommate. All advice is appreciated. Thanks for your time !!
Hi Posting people. I have a roommate advice question all responses are welcomed and encouraged. I have a 31 year old roommate, that has a 21 year old gf (high school dropout) he moved her in a year ago without anyone ele's approval or permission, but I digress that's not the newest problem. The newest problem stems from our lease obligations ending on Aug 31st. However, having all of this knowledge he went out with the kid gf and got a new apartment that they are scheduled to move into on Jun 1st. I know makes no sense well the problem I have is that he came to me a few days ago and told me he's not going to pay his rent at our current residence once he moves. Basically he is going to skip out on the rent for two months. I kindly told him the other day that it is his fault and only his fault that he's in the situaiton as he presisted in blaming everyone from the land lord to Santa Clause for his lack of good decision making. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I should deal with such an immature 31 year old roommate. All advice is appreciated. Thanks for your time !!
If he is on the lease you could take him to small claims court. However, I would just let it and go and chalk it up to experience. You should have known this guy was trouble with the whole gf moving in w/o permission.
he sounds as immature as his girlfriend, you might be well rid of him...
Is he already moved out?? If not AND his name is not on the lease then you could always move him out and change the locks, I find that normally drives home to a person that they have crossed a line.
I'm not a lawyer but I believe if he signed the contract, he should be contractually liable for his portion of the rent. If he's not on the lease, then it's "tough-tooties" for you - one of those life lessons you are just going to have to live with I'm sorry to say. Like someone said earlier, small claims court may not be worth it (unless you want to be on TV with Judge Judy!
Assuming he's on the lease, I have no idea what you can do. Talk to the landlord maybe? My husband, during his bachelor years, encountered a similar situation and the landlord was nice enough to lower the rent for the remaining tenants. The guy that "skidaddled" DID sign the lease but things worked out amicably.
Maybe you can post this on the business forum if you want more of a "professional" advice. Good luck!
Cut your losses if you can afford that. Thanks be, good riddance to a lousy partnership. Don't look back, and don't do it again. My best advice for you. Good luck!
Oh, I thought of another thing but maybe this is "below the belt". If you tell your landlord, maybe he can put a complaint in on the guy's credit score. I don't know how that works but if he REALLY screwed you guys badly, that may be of some solace. Although I do not in any way, shape, or form, condone "payback" mentality.
Oh, I thought of another thing but maybe this is "below the belt". If you tell your landlord, maybe he can put a complaint in on the guy's credit score. I don't know how that works but if he REALLY screwed you guys badly, that may be of some solace. Although I do not in any way, shape, or form, condone "payback" mentality.
Great idea! I'd call it holding the guy to some degree of account, not payback, and it's certainly NOT "below the belt" IMO. Why should he get off Scott free? Report him. Let him feel the pain of his decisions. His problem.
Great idea! I'd call it holding the guy to some degree of account, not payback, and it's certainly NOT "below the belt" IMO. Why should he get off Scott free? Report him. Let him feel the pain of his decisions. His problem.
He won't get off scott fee. This girlfriend of his will dump him in the middle of THEIR lease and move in with her new loser boyfriend. He will then be in the same postion.
First of all learn from your mistake and make sure your new roommate is more mature and compatable with everyone living in the house. Then decide whether or not it's worth raking the guy through small claims court. If you do decide to go to court make sure you have all copies of your lease, utility bills and deposit reciepts with you. Did your roommate put a deposit down when he moved in? If not make sure your new one does.
Firstly, you need to find out what is legal in your state. If you go to your state's gov't website, you can find the housing board listed & can call them for clarification with laws. Sometimes it's under the Tenant-Landlord category in the blue/gov't pages. Have your lease in hand & better yet, read it first, which you may not have done prior to signing it yourself. I am a landlord in MA & am very familiar with MA laws. If a tenant moves someone in, even though it is against their RHA lease (Residential Housing Authority) without written consent, credit report & signed application of their "friend", MA law states that if I don't demand that they become a co-signer, at 30-days they become a legal tenant-at-will. That means this legal tenant didn't sign the lease, so doesn't need to follow its terms. For example, I have a non-smoking, no pets building & no one may make any alterations to the apt. The "new" tenant doesn't need to abide by that, as their signature isn't on the lease.
So, in my state, the girlfriend would be considered a tenant, too, & you may be able to legally collect from her, as well, if you have a similar law. It doesn't sound like either wish to pay, but I'm just saying you need to know your state laws first before you can assert your rights. If they didn't want to pay, small claims court is an option. Be aware that you may win, but the court doesn't collect fees for you, at least in MA. I know plenty of people who won their cases, only to have the other party never pay. Eventually, they give up chasing the person around the city & cut their losses. You also must pay a fee to file a claim. And, if he doesn't appear in court, I have no idea if the case continues without him, or you need to refile with another fee? These are some things to be checking into, while you're awaiting your roomie's rent portion.
Don't change locks, if he is on the lease or if you are in a state with a law as above, as he AND she can take legal action against you & even call the police for denying them entry. Your lease has not ended, so until such time as it does, you cannot legally deny them entry. It's also against my lease for a tenant to change locks without written notice from me, as I need to have a copy of the key for planned maintenance or emergencies. I'd never give a tenant that power, as I have my own locksmith. So, you could be in trouble all the way around - police, court & landlord.
If he is on the lease or he/she are legal tenants, as a first, low cost attempt, once his rent is due & he's indicated he refuses to pay, I would mail your roommate a letter telling him he is responsible for the remainder of his portion of the rent for the lease terms & is legally bound & expected to pay. Make sure you use $$ amounts in the letter. CC the landlord on the letter. Have it certified with return receipt at the P.O. so he will need to sign for the letter. It would cost about $5. You want a returned signed receipt as proof that you mailed the letter & that he received it.
This does 2 things: As someone stated above, perhaps the landlord would temporarily reduce your rent, or spread his portion out in payments, if you discuss this with him, once the rent is in arrears. If he is not late in paying rent, do none of the above until he is, as he's paid up right now. When you speak with the landlord, leave emotion & bitter words out of it. You want to perserve your good reputation & seem honest, reliable & professional. Discuss this reasonably & tell him you're inquiring of a possible helping hand from him. Secondly, should you go the small claims court route, this registered attempt to collect will be helpful in your case. Just ensure you bring your lease, a copy of the letter, stamped receipt (proof you mailed it) & signed receipt (proof he received it) with you, otherwise you have no proof. Appear biz like & organized with everyone.
Your landlord can't place a black mark on his credit even if his name is on the lease, as you signed the lease, too, so are responsible to pay full rent. He doesn't care whom it comes from, just that it's paid. The terms are between roommates. He has no bearing, nor does he need to know who pays which %, meaning sometimes a couple lives together & one party pays a larger % of rent or perhaps none. But, he can place a black mark on any tenant who's name is on the lease, should the rent never be paid. It's not as simple as calling the credit company directly, but that's another issue & doesn't really have any bearing on you.
You may have to come up with the $ if your roomie refuses, as SCC will take time, certainly well after the lease expires. So, find a way to pay the rest of the rent & if it's absolutely impossible for you to financially swing it, approach your landlord once it is due, with your portion in hand, to discuss the situation. He may not reduce it (I've never heard of this before & as a landlord, I depend on the rent for my own housing expenses, so I'm in no financial position to bargain) or at least, he may be able to let you split up the roomie's portion over a few months, particularly if you re-sign. If you don't re-sign, he can legally deduct it from the security deposit, whether you agree or not. Try to be understanding if he refuses to bargain. Tenants don't often know this, but most small landlords don't make a profit on rents. Our rents keep the house going - pay portions of housing taxes, homeowner's insurance, maintenance, upgrades, repairs, water. We have to use our own income to cover the rest + our own living expenses. Additionally, if your roomie's already moved out for good & you are certain he won't return, can you secure another roomie for the last 2-mos? Just a thought.
These things sometimes happen & in some ways, you have no control over what a roommate will do. Personally, the 1 time I had a roommate, I didn't put his name on the lease. Why? Because if he turned out to not be the best roommate, I could simply give him 30-days notice to move. If he were on the lease & refused, I'd have little recourse as we're both legally entitled to the apt, as both names are on the lease. My solution was to live alone, because I'd always heard too many roomie horror stories - roomie's skipping out in the middle of the night with property not belonging to them, eating everyone else's food, running out on rent, etc.
Do your best to stay calm, keep a clear head each & everytime you speak with him or the girlfriend (particularly in the event you go to court) & as someone else said, chalk it up to a lesson learned should they not be responsible. Next time, put your foot down immediately, should you not be happy about another roomie moving in someone else without everyone's consent. But, those rules of the house need to be established prior to signing the lease. That's your lesson & you're quite lucky that he may only be skipping out on 2-mo's rent. It could have been 10, like a story I've heard & in this case, each party was paying $1,500/mo.
I wish you the best of luck. I hope this helped clarify a few things & your situation has a favorable resolution... VV
Last edited by Baltic_Celt; 05-14-2007 at 12:48 AM..
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Good luck!
