# Help! Roommate won't pay us back utilities. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 23, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545 "2013-09-23T21:22:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.Pu-du-he-pa-as)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/1 "2013-09-23T21:22:28Z")
At our last place, **oft wears hats** and I were living with two other roommates. The system was that **oft** would front the money for rent and utilities (electric, water, gas, internet/TV), and the roommates would pay him back. We’ve since moved out, and closed out the utilities and the last rent payment. **oft** also fronted the money to get the carpets steam-cleaned. One of the housemates has paid us back; we haven’t heard a peep out of the other. It’s been two weeks. What options do we have to get him to pay us back? He owes over $200, so it’s a fairly large chunk of money. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/2 "2013-09-23T22:23:58Z")
Asking again and small claims court if they refuse? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/3 "2013-09-23T22:30:46Z")
Small claims is typically the way, but since it’s like $60 to file it might not be worth it since you’re A)not going to recover the $60 and B)still have to prove everything to the judge to win the case. At worst you’re out _another_ $60, at best you recover $140. What I might do is sue him for the total amount (including your his portion). It might get his attention and get him to mail you a check for his portion to call off the suit. The reason being (if asked) “this is what it cost me to close out the accounts, this is how much I had to pay when he absconded to make sure that all of our credit reports (including his) were left in good standing and that we didn’t get evicted.” If it all goes well, the judge will look at all the paperwork, do the math and make him pay his portion of the bills. Yes, I’ve been through this. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/4 "2013-09-23T22:33:33Z")
Rooommate screwed you for $200+? That’s not a lot of money- move on, forget it. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/5 "2013-09-23T22:38:15Z")
Revenge is a dish best served cold. I take it these were not friends? ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/6 "2013-09-23T22:39:07Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > Rooommate screwed you for $200+? That’s not a lot of money- move on, forget it. +1. Trust me on this. You might try one more time, and then just chalk it up to a life lesson. The next set of roommates you get will have stricter rules on bills, and it will be due to the previous asshole roommate. ---
**Author:** ![Mgalindo13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@Mgalindo13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mgalindo13)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/7 "2013-09-23T23:12:03Z")
> [@Noelq](#): > > +1. Trust me on this. You might try one more time, and then just chalk it up to a life lesson. The next set of roommates you get will have stricter rules on bills, and it will be due to the previous asshole roommate. +1 I lost about $1,200 to an asshole roommate/friend. It was a great life lesson though. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/8 "2013-09-23T23:27:21Z")
> [@Noelq](#): > > +1. Trust me on this. You might try one more time, and then just chalk it up to a life lesson. The next set of roommates you get. \*Next \*set of roommates? Sheesh man, fool me once fool me twice, y’know? ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/9 "2013-09-23T23:38:24Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > \*Next \*set of roommates? Sheesh man, fool me once fool me twice, y’know? I had roommates, on and off, for about 18 years, until the house was paid off in full. If you’re lucky enough to be at the end of your roommate cycle, full applause and salutations! ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/10 "2013-09-23T23:44:56Z")
I lived in poverty rather than live with roommates. Priorities, I guess. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/11 "2013-09-23T23:47:21Z")
This exact thing happened to me years ago. My roomie came to stay for “months” but left in days. Owed me $70, hardly a princely sum. Wouldn’t take my calls at all. Wouldn’t respond to email. In short, incommunicado. I was too careless at the time, being new to the whole business of sharing my apartment with another guy. I did not even take his new address. When he moved out, I had no way of reaching him. Fortunately, I remembered the name of the company he worked in. I called up their HR department, and they transferred my call straight to his desk. 🆒 I spoke to him politely, and said I would keep calling as a reminder until he pays up. Dude went home that day and transferred my money the same evening. So: - Call him up and if he refuses to speak, go ahead and call his workplace. - Be polite - you want your money, not a confrontation. - Tell him in a friendly way you are just trying to remind him of his obligations. Most people would just pay up at that point; no one wants word spreading around in his workplace. If he still will not pay, forget it and move on. DO NOT threaten or try to talk to others in his workplace - that’ll pretty much set him on fire. And you’ll still not get your money back. IMO it is not worth doing something escalatory that might have serious consequences for him or you. Now if it were $2000, I’d definitely pursue the claim in court (assuming I had some kind of a written agreement I could provide the court). Beyond this point I cannot say, IANAL. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/12 "2013-09-24T00:09:07Z")
IIRC, around here, a small claims award is the amount owed plus filing costs. You should check into that before ruling it out. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/13 "2013-09-24T00:16:43Z")
> [@mandala](#): > > [snip] if he refuses to speak, go ahead and call his workplace. [snip] Depending on your state, this could be a Very Bad Idea. IANYL ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/14 "2013-09-24T00:18:25Z")
Yeah, you could probably get the filing fee back too, but even if you win in small claims court, that doesn’t mean you automatically get the money. If he doesn’t pay it voluntarily you can go for wage garnishment or a lien on his property or something but there are probably fees for that too, plus it just wouldn’t be worth it for $200. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/15 "2013-09-24T00:20:24Z")
I went to roomie’s new pad. I looked in the window and saw him asleep. I knocked, nothing happened, I looked again and he was gone. I knew he was hiding, the bastard, so I cracked open the front door and took his purebred dog by the collar and said “ED, I’M GOING TO SEIZE YOUR DOG.” He came out and wrote a check. When the check bounced, I called his mom. Her check was good. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/16 "2013-09-24T00:22:09Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > I lived in poverty rather than live with roommates. Priorities, I guess. Some people live in poverty _with_ roommates. This situation has happened to me before. I took it as a lesson to try really, really hard not to be the one who pays up front. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/17 "2013-09-24T00:42:49Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > I went to roomie’s new pad. I looked in the window and saw him asleep. I knocked, nothing happened, I looked again and he was gone. I knew he was hiding, the bastard, so I cracked open the front door and took his purebred dog by the collar and said “ED, I’M GOING TO SEIZE YOUR DOG.” He came out and wrote a check. When the check bounced, I called his mom. Her check was good. Carpe canem. A situation so ancient we can talk about it in Latin! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/18 "2013-09-24T04:45:05Z")
If you do end up deciding that writing off the ex-roommate is the way to go, then it would be very cool of you and the other ex-roommie split the $200 with **oft** and each give him $66. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/19 "2013-09-24T21:09:42Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > Depending on your state, this could be a Very Bad Idea. IANYL How so? The OP os not a debt collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. He/She is the debt owner and, as such, has far more options to collect. From the Federal Reservepage (PDF): > [@](#): > > Debt Collectors That Are Not Covered > An institution is not considered a debt collector under the FDCPA when it collects > •Its own debts under its own name If they farm the debt out to a third party to collect, that party would not be permitted to call the debtor at work. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545/20 "2013-09-24T23:42:00Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > How so? The OP os not a debt collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. He/She is the debt owner and, as such, has far more options to collect. From the Federal Reservepage (PDF): > > If they farm the debt out to a third party to collect, that party would not be permitted to call the debtor at work. You’re quoting Federal law. State laws can be significantly more stringent, and can indeed apply to original creditors. _See, e.g.,_ [Fl. St. 559.55 \*et seq.](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0500-0599/0559/0559.html)\*. As I said, it depends on the state. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-roommate-wont-pay-us-back-utilities/669545.md?page=2)