Roommate Moving Out Before Lease Ends

[Sherborne]

Hello.  I live in Florida.  I have already read some of your previous posts regarding Florida's zany and terrible housing laws.  So, I feel secure knowing that.  lol ... My roommate and I have not gotten along well over the past 8 months or so while living here in this condo(which is owned by an individual landlord).  My roommate and I are on a year lease.  He wants to move out early.  He says he will pay the remaining 2-3 months of rent BUT he lies about many things and is in no position to afford 2 rents at the same time.  I know he owes a lot of money for 2 brand new car payments, overdrawn bank and credit-card accounts and other expensive items he pays for monthly(or should I say does not pay for monthly).  I feel he is very untrustworthy and he jumps from job to job all the time so having a his workplace dock his pay from legal settlements will not likely ever work.  I do not have any idea what he is planning except he is moving out in a couple weeks and I feel he may stick me with his half of the rent.  Can he do that?  Because isn;t he braking the lease even if he moves out - should he or shouldn't he have to pay for the remaining 3 months(about $2000) of the lease?  Also, the power bill is in his name and what if he doesn't pay that off and it gets transferred to my name .. do I have to pay whatever he did not pay(existing balance) or would FPL come after him for the balance as I paid him half every month so far?  I am positive there is a balance on the utility bill because I had to pay one time $200 to get it turned back on because he did not pay it in time so they switched it off.  Thank you for your time and any advice you can offer!  I am very worried about this one and am debating getting legal aid(ie - www.prepaidlegal.com). Please let me know your advice.

[Mynogan]

Hi Jared

You have got a real mess on your hands and Florida is NOT the place to live with this type of roommate.

I am going to attempt to suggest some things.  Maybe the landlord can help you also. You need him on YOUR side here okay Jared, so handle him with kid gloves.

Lets assume that your roommate(lets call him Sam) WILL NOT PAY anymore money for rent and utilities. This is a fair assumption because of his financial history.  That means you will have his share of the rent.  In other words you will paying the FULL amount of the monthly rent. Let's also assume that there is a balance owing on the utilities. In fact, demand Sam show you the latest of all the utility bills so you can at least get some idea of what is what. Depending on HOW the utility companies work(this is Florida after all), you might let them shut them off completely, especially if Sam is moving out ASAP.  After they are shut off, go away for a week, or stay at a friends house. Then go to the utility companies and open up accounts for your apartment, under your name. I wouldn't volunteer any info about being a roommate of Sam.... the less they know the better; so maybe denying you ever knew or lived with Sam is in your best interest.  I generally don't advocate this by any means but you are really stuck between a rock and a hard place. The worst that can happen is you WILL probably have to pay the balance owing BEFORE the utilities are opened in your name.

Now we ALL know that breaking the lease such as Sam is doing is not legal.  But Jared, does he care? Will it ruin his disastrous credit history which is already toast? Will he feel guilty about the fact he is leaving you with a mess? Will the landlord go after him for the rent?  The answer to all of the above is NO!

Read your lease agreement again. It should state somewhere that EACH tenant is responsible for the rent.  IT doesn't break down to who pays what. The landlord wants the rent. And since you will STILL be there, YOU will pay it. He is NOT going to go chasing all over town to collect from long gone Sam when you are right there. That is the way it is.

Your options are few.  IF the landlord is a really nice guy, he might allow you to:

A.  Move out, pay a fee for breaking the lease and go on with your life someplace else. I would opt for this unless;

B.  Allows you to get another roommate to take up where Sam left off....or...

C.  Make you stay, make you pay, and NOT allow you another roommate because Sam is still on the lease...or...

D.  Work out some other arrangement.  Talk to him and see if he can come up with anything helpful.

Just remember that if you are evicted for non-payment of rent, it will show up on YOUR credit report.  I need NOT tell you that is disastrous. So, you need to work closely with your landlord(hopefully he is a nice guy).  I would also suggest talking to the Fair Housing Agency in your city but I wouldn't hold out too much hope there. I think in Florida they just sleep...

I don't know HOW you ended up with Sam but I know you hopefully learned a valuable lesson here. You cannot live with another person and NOT know what is going on daily.  You should have taken over the utilities the MINUTE you had to pay any type of late fee or reconnect charge.  And when you started feeling he was not being truthful with you, it was time for you to make other living arrangements.  Even though you live in the lovely state of Florida, there are still ways to protect yourself from people like Sam.  Buy my Roommate Survival Guide BEFORE you even consider getting into another roommate situation. Read it again and again until you can read it in your sleep.  Follow it step by step and find someone to live with that is responsible and compatible.  Trust me, it works. Good Luck Sincerely

Sylvia Bergthold

www.aroommatesurvivalguide.com