The OP’s financial issue isn’t with the roommate, it’s with the landlord. She signed the lease with the landlord. She agreed to the terms with the landlord. The landlord asked the other tenant if he would be willing to take over the entire lease, the other tenant said no. Would you take over the financial responsibility of roommate moving out? I doubt any of you would.
Sure roommate is a jerk, but there’s no provision of getting out of your financial obligation because you can’t get along with your roommate.
No lawyer is going find a way out for her. She’s gonna be on the hook for the remainder of the lease term.
What are the terms of breaking the lease? At regular apartments, there will be some penalty, but you don’t have to pay for the rest of the lease.
Also, if he’s not holding up his end of being a roommate, does that entitle her to some recourse? There’s some assumption that the roommate will help share costs:
Or is that just a situation that could happen with roommmates? Could you just end up with an unevicatable roommate who pays their share of rent, but otherwise doesn’t pay any other expense (and makes themselves as annoying as possible)?
Hypothetically, she could deduct the cost of his half of the utilities from her half of the rent.
In terms of other expenses, barring some unforeseen agreement, there’s no legal obligation for him to provide supplies such as toilet paper or whatnot. She could just carry a roll with her when she has to go to the bathroom, and take it back to her room when she’s done.
He’s being a jerk, but there’s not much she can do if she is just living with a moocher, re: food, towels, etc.
Why? Her financial obligation for rent is with the landlord, not her roommate. The landlord doesn’t care if they have cable or water or not. That’s between the two roommates and the utility companies.
Can you give more details about how it worked taking the roommate to court? It seems like you should be able to take action against a roommate who is unfairly using resources and services they are not contributing to. Can you just sue for their share of cost, or is there a way to evict the roommate?
It’s good to hear relief is possible, it sounded to me like this is a “don’t get into a long commitment with someone you don’t know” and “you’ll have to live with the consequences” situation. Which stinks because even a relationship with a good friend can turn toxic.
If you are paying the cable and he’s not paying his share, then put the parental control/wifi password on and don’t give him the password until he pays up. Change it the day you present each bill until he pays.
He doesn’t want to let you off the lease, so this is not an attempt to get you out; it’s passive aggression.
Passive aggressive people can not handle confrontation. Don’t get upset or emotional. Make his shenanigans as boring and useless as you can. Your discomfort is his pay-off. He had some expectation which you are not meeting (friendship? romance? Other?) and he is trying to punish you. Roll your eyes, practice a sympathetic smile. Think to yourself “Oh, you poor sick, sad little man, I wouldn’t live in your head for anything in the world” and move on by. (Never say it out loud though.)
Make sure nothing of yours is available for his use. Why is your detergent there if he won’t let you do laundry? He should receive no benefit except the rent you pay.
Take a self-defense class as soon as possible, and get de-escalation training if you can find it. And ask your boyfriend to stay with you as often as possible. This guy is sick, and there’s no telling how far it will go.
Just keep it boring. Interesting, in this scenario, could mean dangerous.
IANAL, but there is a concept in some localities called “constructive eviction.” Find out the criteria in your area, to see if it applies. And for heaven’s sake get a copy of the lease from your landlord!
For small claims court, it’s actually fairly simple. Most counties have forms available on the county clerk’s website.
For the instances where I did it, it was simply a matter of filling out a few pages, paying the filing fees and then, after the appropriate time has lapsed for service, showing up on the appointed date.
The counties where I’ve helped friends provide step-by-step guides. I don’t mind helping out where I can, but they really do make it idiot-proof. So long as you have basic reading comprehension, you really don’t need an attorney’s help.
She will need to show damages in order to prevail, so I’d recommend her paying the full amount of any and all bills due (so as to have a claim). This includes rent, utilities, etc.
In this situation, I think the best bet would be for her to produce bank statements or some proof that she had paid the bills. Make sure that said statements show both withdrawals and deposits, because otherwise, he could contend that she made the full payment, and he would reimburse her (as most apartment landlords / leasing companies prefer to have one check / deposit per month, versus getting them in increments).
For expenses such as dishwasher detergent, toilet paper, etc., that would be much harder to prove, because she would need to prove that they were mutually used, and that he didn’t provide his own. For example, when I had a roommate, I never cooked, so as such, I never used detergent. Honestly, while it is able to prove, I think a cost/benefit analysis weighs more on the “don’t waste your time” in trying to calculate it, because depending on the magistrate / judge, they may not give it much consideration. If anything, I’d just make a generic claim of resources used. Some judges may look at it in respect of the totality of the circumstances and be more deferential to the broad claim, where others might want it to be proven up, specifically.
Similarly, depending on the jurisdiction, it may not hurt to make mention of the harassment endured in the filing. This may lead to punitive damages or some sort of restraining order. Since, IIRC, the landlord has no issue with her breaking her lease, he wouldn’t be required to pay whatever costs associated with breaking it. Additionally, this might nullify any sort of reliance counterclaim he might file, stating that in moving out, she’s violating an implied contract of cohabitation, since he can no longer afford to live there, and wouldn’t have entered into the current situation but for the reliance of her contributing to rent.
If the OP wants to PM me the county in which she lives, I’d be more than happy to see if I can find links to the information needed to get this ball rolling.
I did have** astro’**s post in mind about there being a side agreement regarding the lease, but it doesn’t change my mind that this guy is trouble, not just that she can’t get along with him. I don’t think you’re taking the threat seriously enough. My suggestion was in that vein not simply financial.
What state is this, groved?
ETA: Thank you, Calatin, for offering to help her.
It just seems wrong to me the whole thing, the reason im moving out is becahse he’s become completely ridiculous. Its gotten to the point that I dont even feel comfortable here or trust him at all. Hes been telling people that I need to move out since January and even told me multiple times to go get a place with my boyfriend. At the beginning of the lease he even rubbed in my face that ‘he could pay the whole rent himself’ which so can I, yet would be stingy about money with everything. I guess thats just a life lesson though, just doesnt seem morally right.
If you do move out: terminate any utilities that are in your name. You have no legal obligation to leave those turned on. In fact, if you can manage without internet for a bit, turn that off right now.
I don’t know what the laws are in your locality when co-leasing, when the co-lessor is making the situation unsafe, but i very much fear that the landlord is under no obligation to break the lease. If you move out and quit paying, the landlord will go after the roommate, but is also legally entitled to go after you for the whole rent. In fact if you DO move out I’d bet the douchebag would quit paying even his share in the hopes that the landlord would go after you.