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My name is Brian, I live in Chicago. I recently had a roommate move out who owed Octobers rent. We know that
we will never see that money and we have already decided to split the utlilities for his portion.
Now the landlord is contacting us about wanting the money for October's rent. However, we told the landlord
to put him onto the lease, twice. Once when he moved in, and again in October.
My question is: If the landlord doesn't spend the time to add somebody to the lease (we obviously can't do it ourselves),
can the landlord expect us to pay his portion if he leaves?
Any help with this is GREATLY appreciated! I am also open to suggestions on how to handle the situation.
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 11-23-2011 at 04:43 PM..
Reason: City-Data does not offer Legal Advice
Regardless of whose fault it is that your room-mate didn't get added to the lease (and this is something for which both parties are responsible) he's not on the lease so the LL will of course pursue the people who are on it and that's perfectly legal. You and your remaining room-mate have to pay the full amount. Unless you have a written agreement with the room-mate who skipped and know how to contact him in order to file a small claims suit against him (which probably isn't worth it) the best you can do is look for another room-mate to move in. Good luck!
I really do appreciate the quick response. So if we tried contacting the landlord, and they didn't come over with the lease, how are we supposed to protect ourselves in future situations?
We are looking for other roommates, but now it makes me concerned that it will be like pulling teeth with the landlord to try to get them on the lease as well.
I really do appreciate the quick response. So if we tried contacting the landlord, and they didn't come over with the lease, how are we supposed to protect ourselves in future situations?
We are looking for other roommates, but now it makes me concerned that it will be like pulling teeth with the landlord to try to get them on the lease as well.
All I can suggest is that even before you look for another room-mate you need to sit down with the landlord and ask him what he needs in order to add another party to the lease. I don't know what he required of you before entering into a lease but he may want to do a background check, a credit check, etc. Having this kind of a conversation with him and following it up with a written confirmation of your mutual understanding would at least indicate to him that you're serious about your contractual obligation and prompt him to get back to you without undue delay. However, this is only a suggestion and this below of course holds true:
Quote:
Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah
Even if they are on the lease, some states hold you "joint and severally" liable which means the others still pay. Get a quick Legal Aid opinioin.
I think you'll find this true in most jurisdictions. What it means is that if you have more than one person on the lease, the landlord can sue one or all of the signatories if the contract is breached. In your case, if you had three people on the lease, two of them skipped and you're the last man standing who's evicted for nonpayment, the LL doesn't have to go after all of you but the one he can reach most easily. In such a case and if a judgement was made against you, you in turn would have to suck it up and then find the other two parties and sue them for their portion.
The pitfalls of having room-mates which is why you have to be very careful about who you pick to share a space. Good luck to you!
A very important question that needs to be answered.
It seems that it was answered when the OP said that he and his room-mate are on the lease but that the third room-mate was never added which was the whole point of the thread where liability is concerned. But maybe I missed something.
PS. In my earlier response where I quoted SouthernBelleInUtah, although I think I did properly explain the "joint and several" point, I did miss SBIU's wording, viz, "which means the others still pay", which was actually an incorrect statement.
I ask because we can all think back on topics with many responses and suddenly 8 pages later we find out the poster (tenant or novice LL) used the incorrect terminology. They may use lease and we are thinking a "lease" with the LL, but reality is the "lease" is really a sub-lease or a roomate agreement outside of the LL. I just wanted to clarify exactly what type of document they were refering to.
My name is Brian, I live in Chicago. I recently had a roommate move out who owed Octobers rent. We know that
we will never see that money and we have already decided to split the utlilities for his portion.
Now the landlord is contacting us about wanting the money for October's rent. However, we told the landlord
to put him onto the lease, twice. Once when he moved in, and again in October.
My question is: If the landlord doesn't spend the time to add somebody to the lease (we obviously can't do it ourselves),
can the landlord expect us to pay his portion if he leaves?
Any help with this is GREATLY appreciated! I am also open to suggestions on how to handle the situation.
Here's a lesson to remember in all future dealings: if it ain't in writing, it don't mean squat. Whoever is on the lease is responsible for the rent.
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They may use lease and we are thinking a "lease" with the LL, but reality is the "lease" is really a sub-lease or a roomate agreement outside of the LL. I just wanted to clarify exactly what type of document they were refering to.
