Oh roommates, gotta love to hate em. Seeking advice.

[Shauk]

Seriously, imagine this.

You're an adult, you enter in to a 2 person lease for 6 months, 500$ a month for a 2bd, 300$ deposit. (yeah yeah, cheap, I know, save it)

After 6 months it goes month to month.

You pay this money to the rental company.

One day, you decide you want to move out. You give your 30 days notice, but instead of coordinating a move in date which would prevent you from having to pay rent on 2 different places at once, you move less than a week after you give your notice.


This is what my ex roommate did.


Now, he's refusing to pay his portion of the prorated rent.
also, he thinks that somehow he's instantly entitled to half of the deposit which he pretty much forfeited by moving out and breaking off his lease.

In an effort to be nice about it, I've made several compromise attempts.

Including, offering to let him just pay the 125$ for 15 days of April, while I shoulder all of the utilities, in exchange for him waiting until a) I find a roommate to buy out his deposit, or b) move out because I can't afford the place on my own anyway, thus releasing the deposit anyway.

or

Having him find a replacement roommate for me before the beginning of April so there was no lapse in rent, and keeping the 125$ he would have paid, and I would have just paid him 25$ for the difference to equal the 150$ deposit he paid.


as it stands now, he's paid nothing, he's made no effort to find a roommate, and he cleaned up nothing when he left, the upstairs bathroom looks asshair-mart.

Technically he didn't give his notice until the 17th but because he wrote the notice on the 15th, she went ahead and set it to april 15th as his move out date.


well, anyways I got his move out confirmation notice on my door today, I have his msn.

Oh yeah, he's a mentally infantile child in an adult body, he also has gender issues and wants to be a woman so he misrepresents himself online to everyone as "Sarah"


Furthermore, and here's the important bit. He doesn't nor has ever, worked a day in his life the entire time that I've known him. His mother pays the rent. That's right, the money he's fighting tooth and nail for? He's done nothing to earn it, much less act like he's entitled to it, aside from convince his mother that he's suicidal and needs to remain in a constant state of support.

enjoy.

This is what happens when you let someone live with you as a favor to a friend. "help my cousin out, he needs a place to stay, his mother pays his rent, etc..."


♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) said:
whats up
Got a notice from Mindy for you
basically just says she needs 125$ or whatever, dunno if you wanna drop that off here or need a ride or something, let me know

Sarah says:
k well i need 150 from you for my part of teh deposit

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
"I recieved your 30 day notice. You are scheduled to move out on the 15th of April. You are responsible for 15 days of rent for the month of April. Your portion of the prorated amount is $125. Please pay this on or before the 5th of April to avoid any late fees."
that's the notice for ya.

Sarah says:
k well i will talk to her
becuase you owe me money

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
we already went over this

Sarah says:
you or her
dude
fuck off you are just being a faggot
you are just trying to get out of half the deposit

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
no, we already went over this

Sarah says:
becuase you spent like 300 dollars on fucking bad company

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
I did what?
3/17/2010 3:50:55 PM Sarah as long as i get theirs
3/17/2010 3:50:56 PM Sarah im fine with that
3/17/2010 3:51:24 PM Sarah okay
3/17/2010 3:52:00 PM Sarah if you want to go to the bank now we can drop it
again
we talked about this

Sarah says:
go away

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
no i wont go away

Sarah says:
i will talk to her monday
after that

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
this isnt going to go away

Sarah says:
leave me alone

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
I'll leave you alone when you act responsibly

Sarah says:
you are the biggest prick ive ever met james

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
call your mom or whatever it is you have to do

Sarah says:
you owe me money
and i will talk to her about it
either i will get it from her
or from you
we paid half of the deposit each
you are just trying to back out now
becuase you think youa rethe only person in the world or something

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
have I not told you like 738174 times now that you get the deposit from the next roommate?
have you done anything to try to fill the room?
no
I'm doing it all

Sarah says:
its not my job
its your job

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
if you want your deposit faster, it's your job
that's how this is playing out.

Sarah says:
its also not my job to wait for yout o find a roomate

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
that doesn't negate what you owe on rent

Sarah says:
which is why im going to talk to her

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
talk all you want, it's in writing

Sarah says:
if you are going to be a prick about it

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
i've got you logged as saying you would pay it too

Sarah says:
i will ask her to split up the dposit since im leaving

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
I can be a prick

Sarah says:
becuase you wouldnt shut the fuck up
becuase you are dumb faggot

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
i can take it to court if you want

Sarah says:
there is a reason i moved

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
don't fuck around

Sarah says:
now leave me the fuck alone

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
what's your address?

Sarah says:
go away

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
no
not going to happen

Sarah says:
blocking you now

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
resolve this

Sarah says:
i have no reasno to talk to you
i willt akl ot her on monday
i have no reason to speak to you
now please fuck off

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
i'll just get your mothers number then
we'll deal with this

Sarah says:
are you dumb?
are you seriously taht stupid?
monday is before the 5th
now fuck off

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
if you're not going to deal with this like an adult with your childish "fuck off faggot" remarks then I need to speak with an adult who is responsible for your rental agreement
or you can grow up and reason with me on this

Sarah says:
do you not get it

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
your choice

Sarah says:
you mean absolutly nothing in this
the rental agreement is with her
which i am going to talk to

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
you think she's just going to let you out of it?

Sarah says:
i am going to talk to her about the depoit since you are so unwilling to be reasonable
are
you
stupid?

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
because I already talked to her

Sarah says:
you are arnt you
ill deal with wahtever

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
what's to talk about? 125$

Sarah says:
i just figured that you are a prick

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
how am I a prick?

Sarah says:
now go away

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
you're the one telling me I owe you money

Sarah says:
we went half and half on the deposit

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
despite us already talking about it on the 17th

Sarah says:
youa re just being a prick to get out of it

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
where you were ok with me just giving you the deposit when either I move out or get a roommate which will happen in a month either way

Sarah says:
i moved out becuase i coudlnt deal with you
now you sit here and bug me on msn
i siad i would go talk to her
now leave me alone

♪♫◄Shauk.DJ►♫♪ (Desktop) says:
ok maybe i'm stupid, i just dont understand how your "talking" to her is equivocal to just taking care of the rest of your 30 day notice like you should

Sarah says:
becuase im going to talk to her about the deposit
that has absolutly nothing to do with rent
now please leave me alone













Well, as you can see, this mentally infantile individual is choosing to express his adulthood in the most poor manner ever.

considering his mother is the only person doling out the finances, I think my best bet will be to contact her and let her know that she agreed to let him enter a rental arrangement with my property management company and that he's choosing to withhold money that he owes due to his own poor execution in planning to move out.

I've never had to file a court case before nor do I even really know what is involved, I'm thinking I'll be wandering down there asking a lot of questions.


I was just wondering, a list of facts here.
I have a notice from the landlord acknowledging his 30 day notice, stating he owes 125$ for his portion of the prorated 15 days of April
I have a friend that we both used to live with, who can state that this guy will screw you over when he moves out on money owed since it happened to him before.
I have chat logs (which I'm not sure qualify as evidence) of him stating that he would pay, then later saying that he wouldn't pay because he thinks that he's entitled to half of the deposit.


Overall, it's a wash if I leave it out of court, being that the 150 of the deposit would stay on file under my name entirely, but i'd cough up an extra 125 for his missing portion of the rent. (end result, I make 25 bucks)

The way he's acting now though, the landlord says if he does not pay by the time his lease is up, he forfeits any claim to the deposit, and that it's my responsibility to choose if I want to pursue him for the rent money since at that point, the debt will become mine to owe on the unit (again, not an issue, I can cover it)


Just wondering how worth it it would be to pursue him after he admits to defaulting on his written agreement to honor his half of the rent, netting me both the 150 on file with the rental co, and the 125 he owes me + court fees.

I don't know, seems to me it's worth it based on how angry I am at all the names and accusations he throws at me.

[Xerxys]

Your clearly in the right and s/he is going to screw you. Nothing you can do besides search very hard for another room mate or cheaper place. Explain to him/her in a letter (in a nice way with no insults or personal attacks) that you cannot afford the money and if you take him/her to court, s/he is going to sustain more fees so to settle it without the due process.

I guess next time you will screen the people you live with and make them pay 2 months rent first before committing.

[Manic_Skafe]

Shauk, I can only suggest you suck it up and move on. Maybe next time you'll know better than to tread so carelessly upon the dumb fag tolerance of such a poor mid-gender individual.

(How'd you live with that for even a day?)

[robot_parade]

Are you clear on exactly what the financial arrangements are between you, the landlord, and Sarah? IANAL, and I know very little about having two people on a lease, but it seems to me that:

He is the one that owes the landlord $125, not you - so that part of it has nothing to do with you, *unless* there's something in the lease or the law that says that you are responsible for it if he doesn't pay.

I'm not entirely clear on the $300 deposit question either. If you paid $150 to the landlord and he paid $150 to the landlord, then I'd think the deposit question is also between him and the landlord.

However, if he gave you $150, and you paid the landlord $300, or some other situation, then I could see how there could be a disagreement on exactly when he would get the $150 back - I would say no sooner than 30 days after he gave his notice, though, and if he leaves you responsible for the $125 of his rent, it seems perfectly reasonable to me to deduct that from his deposit.

So, taking what sounds like the most likely sequence of events, he doesn't pay the $125. On the day after his 30 day notice is up, pay him $25 for his deposit (you could probably get out of this, since you had to clean up out of him, but it wouldn't really be worth it to me to try.). When the next tenant comes in, that person will pay $150 deposit - getting you back the $125 you were stuck with plus the $25 you paid him for his deposit. By the way, I'd pay the $25 in check so at least you have some evidence.

If you don't end up getting a roommate, and instead leave, you should get the $300 back, which will be your $150, plus the $125 you had to pay for his rent, plus the $25 you did pay him.

If you pay the $150 *and* he stiffs you for the $125, then you'll never get that $125 back, and you will have been played for a sucker. So definitely do not give him a dime until he either pays the $125, or he doesn't and you have to pay it.

Bringing his mom into it might also work, of course. But if my math is correct, then all you will be out is having to clean up after him.

Personally, I don't think this is worth taking him to small claims court - the most you will be out is your time and dignity for having to clean up for him, and if you take it to court, at the very least you'll have to lose a morning dealing with that. You could try keeping the $25 as a cleaning fee (one word: photographs!), but then *he* might take you to court, and it's possible the judge might take a disliking to you and make you pay him back as well as court costs.

[raptor9k]

Suck up the rent and take his half of the deposit. Seems like a decent end to the situation. Tell him to get bent on the extra $25.

[Grancey]

Bring his mother into it. I've known these people, and it's possible that she thinks her "precious" can do no wrong. In that case, she probably wouldn't believe you. However, I'm sure it's not the first time she's had to deal with this type of situation with him. So, she may be accustomed to bailing him out of bad situations. Can't hurt to contact her.

[archetypal fool]

It seems to me that if he refuses to pay you the $125 for rent, then you're totally entitled to his half of the deposit minus $25, which, as robot suggested, you could probably absorb because he left you with a mess to clean up; the last thing anyone wants to do when moving into an apartment is having to clean up after the previous resident, so you could argue that it was a necessary step to acquiring a new roommate. Speak with management about the situation so that he can't stop by and demand his deposit behind your back.

And as Xerxys said, write a clear and concise letter stating the facts of your case, just as you gave them to us, then send it to him. I'm sure you've spoken about this in more detail with him, but from the chat log it seems he either doesn't understand why he owes you money (and you don't owe him any) or he's feigning ignorance and hoping you'll drop it and go away. If the latter is the case, send it to his mother instead (or speak with her directly). In any case, you're the one with the proof and it's entirely in your favor, so I can't imagine any way you could end up losing in this situation. Leave the small-claims court as a last resort if both him and his mother refuse to give you what you're contractually owed.

EDIT: Why is he even asking for his deposit back? In most places breaking the leasing agreement means you forfeit your deposit... that's how it works, and I'm sure it's in the contract somewhere. Tell him to dig up his copy of the leasing contract (assuming he was responsible enough to keep it) and give it a good read-through. If you want to make things totally square, you could probably also demand the rent because that $150 isn't technically his any more... so it doesn't really count as him paying you for rent.

[Cynthetiq]

If it were me, I'd eat everything. The aggravation alone has a much higher price tag.

[cj2112]

If you're going to take him to court, you need to take pictures if the condition in which he left his bedroom and bathroom. The burden of proof would be yours, and you need to be able to prove your case. Do not get drawn into irrelevant issues like his gender confusion. Remain calm, rational and focused on the issues.

[dlish]

this is what you need to do


a) keep the deposit
b) get his mother involved if only for comical relief.
c) get a phony clean up bill for something like 300 dollars for cleaning up his ass hairs, and attach it to the letter of final demand. Make sure you use plenty of big words and legal terminology. CC it to a lawyer who you pretend to represents you. This should be enough for him/her to be spooked into pay you the rest of your money.

d) if all else fails, like manic said, suck it up and move on. its only 125 bucks.

I'd be more worried and upset about the ass hairs to be honest

---------- Post added at 02:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:12 AM ----------

i wouldnt bother with going to court.. it'll cost you to file a civil case in court which will be more than $125 i presume. not worth the headache for this sort of money in my opinion.

make sure your letter and final demand letter have the pictures attached along with the invoice.

[amonkie]

When you enter into any financial agreement with another person, this is a risk you take.

Refer to your lease and identify what you become responsible for if he defaults. This should be your only concern. In this case, it appears it would be the $150 in rent.

The sole purpose of the deposit is good faith money to 1)cover any cleanup costs or 2) provide some compensation to the landlord should you break the lease or not pay up.

[Shauk]

just to clarify a few things, I've talked in great detail with my landlord about how this is going to play out.

She basically said, as far as the housing company is concerned, taking an occupant off the lease instead of dissolving the lease due to both parties leaving simply means it's transferring sole responsibility to me.

so no, technically, the 125 that he doesn't pay for rent wouldn't just be between him and the housing co since he doesn't have his own lease. It would just become my sole responsibility after the 15th when his name is finally removed from the lease.

He just doesn't seem to "get it" that the deposit is tied to the lease being active. If one person leaves, it's still active. So hounding the rental co does nothing except irritate them. I told him if he wants the money he put forth to the deposit, he has to deal with me in one of those 2 scenarios I gave him.
Find a roommate before the 1st so they basically pay the rent so he wouldn't have to, saving him 125$ in the process and that i'd comp him the 25$ difference
or
pay the rent and just wait for when I get a new roommate to buy out his deposit on the place.

but he insists that he thinks he can get the deposit back from the rental co. At which point I'm like "dude, if they gave you the 150, who do you think they're going to ask to fill that gap? me. once again, skip the middle man and avoid the headache."

nah he bugged them, they told him to fuck off kindly, now he thinks he was robbed and doesn't want to pay the 15 days he owes for.

[Hektore]

Originally Posted by Shauk

just to clarify a few things, I've talked in great detail with my landlord about how this is going to play out.

She basically said, as far as the housing company is concerned, taking an occupant off the lease instead of dissolving the lease due to both parties leaving simply means it's transferring sole responsibility to me.

so no, technically, the 125 that he doesn't pay for rent wouldn't just be between him and the housing co since he doesn't have his own lease. It would just become my sole responsibility after the 15th when his name is finally removed from the lease.

He just doesn't seem to "get it" that the deposit is tied to the lease being active. If one person leaves, it's still active. So hounding the rental co does nothing except irritate them. I told him if he wants the money he put forth to the deposit, he has to deal with me in one of those 2 scenarios I gave him.
Find a roommate before the 1st so they basically pay the rent so he wouldn't have to, saving him 125$ in the process and that i'd comp him the 25$ difference
or
pay the rent and just wait for when I get a new roommate to buy out his deposit on the place.

but he insists that he thinks he can get the deposit back from the rental co. At which point I'm like "dude, if they gave you the 150, who do you think they're going to ask to fill that gap? me. once again, skip the middle man and avoid the headache."

nah he bugged them, they told him to fuck off kindly, now he thinks he was robbed and doesn't want to pay the 15 days he owes for.

It seems like your saying that his half of the rent is his until the 15th, then it becomes yours to pay? Does not compute.

If he has an agreement that says he owes the money to the rental company - then he owes it to the rental company, not you. If that's the case, stay the hell out of it because it's between him and the lessor and to be honest doesn't have anything to do with you.

Unless what you're saying is that you're equal parties on the same lease, which says you're both responsible for the whole of the rent for the month, regardless of where it comes from (you, him or half from each). In which case, if he refuses to pay you get stuck for the whole month. If that's the case, pay it, tell him to go pound sand and keep the deposit to cover the rent he stuck you with.


Either way, when the next roomate comes along ask if you can be allowed to sign separate leases for the place, that way you won't have to deal with this again.

[surferlove007]

Wow that sounds familiar except I was the one trying to get utility bills taken care of. In the end I found a replacement, moved out, paid my portion and went on my way. I did send an ugly email about how the way the situation was handled was very immature...a 21 year old having to hound 27 year olds for money...ridiculous...and then she ended up saying well fine I don't need your part we'll jut pay it ourselves. To which I said fine.

I look forward to living alone soon. Maybe this is the situation where you keep the deposit, pay whatever is left and just have to deal with the financial burden..not what you want to hear I know. Sometimes throwing money at a problem is just the easiest way to handle it...not saying that makes what shes doing right in the least. Or..just find her checkbook and write a check for the amount and don't say another word about it :-P

[Shauk]

I think i'm just going to give my notice today, I'm not having any luck finding a new roommate on such short notice since he's not going to pay for his 30 days, and it'd probably just be easier to throw some crap in storage and find a room for rent for a while.

[Shauk]

checking in: He sneaked the check in straight to the landlord without telling me so I would have overpaid my rent by 125$ but she told me and let me rewrite my check. I put in my notice all the same though. My back windshield mysteriously got busted in so I have to replace that now...

[Xerxys]

^^ That is some bullshit man!