Ex-Roommate Seeking More Money From Me After I Moved Out

[Deleted member 141656]

Jurisdiction

California

I am on a 1 year joint lease with my ex-roommate until Nov. She couldn't pay for any of the rent for 5 months and I was forced to pay for it. I moved out and said I will continue to pay for 3 months half the rent while she finds a roommate to replace me on the lease as she gave me hell for wanting to do it myself and said she would never agree to one I found. I stopped paying after 3 months and she was forced to get money from her father to cover rent as she never found a roommate. This person and her father are coming after me saying I owe them for rent they covered in full emailing, texting, etc.
I understand I am legally obligated to the landlord with her as a whole for the rent. No stipulation on who pays what. It's us together for the entirety of rent on the agreement. We had no roommate agreement. I'm willing for it to go to eviction at this point and she is not.

I have the account ledger and it clearly shows I have paid her half 5 times; she couldn't afford it.

Should I contest their claim in writing and state that she in fact owes me and continuing to cover my half is an acceptable payback method?

Do I even need to do that if they want take me to court over this?
I imagine showing the ledger for payments later would suffice to defend myself as I have paid half of the total cost of the lease for one year already, but will it if I do not respond to their demand communications?

 

[Zigner]

Whether or not you respond to their demand has no bearing on the amount you owe, whatever that amount may be.

 

[Deleted member 141656]

Whether or not you respond to their demand has no bearing on the amount you owe, whatever that amount may be.

So you're saying that this will be decided in court entirely and no communication between us matters at this point?

 

[zddoodah]

I am on a 1 year joint lease with my ex-roommate until Nov. She couldn't pay for any of the rent for 5 months and I was forced to pay for it. I moved out and said I will continue to pay for 3 months half the rent while she finds a roommate to replace me on the lease as she gave me hell for wanting to do it myself and said she would never agree to one I found. I stopped paying after 3 months and she was forced to get money from her father to cover rent as she never found a roommate. This person and her father are coming after me saying I owe them for rent they covered in full emailing, texting, etc.

A couple things here.

I assume that the initial term of your lease expires at the end of November. However, I assume that, like most leases, it converts to month-to-month if the tenants remain in possession of the premises. Have you given the landlord notice that you vacated? If I were you, I'd ask the landlord for a release from liability for rent for months after November.

I assume that the term of the lease runs from December 1, 2024 through November 30, 2025 (or maybe November 1, 2024 through October 31, 2025). You said you paid the full rent for five of the months that you lived there. Assuming that you didn't do that for the first month, that would mean you paid for the period from December 1, 2024 through April 30, 2025 or January 1 through May 31, 2025 (assuming you paid consecutive months). You said you then agreed to pay another three months of your 1/2 share of the rent, so that would push us through the end of July or the end of August. Am I missing something here? Maybe it was longer than a one-year lease?

When did you move out?

You obviously have no obligations to your ex-roommate's father. You might have obligations to your ex-roommate, but it sounds to me like that's offset by the fact that you covered her share of the rent for five months.

I have the account ledger and it clearly shows I have paid her half 5 times; she couldn't afford it.

I don't know what "the account ledger" is, but it's likely not admissible evidence if you ever end up in court. Depending on how you paid your rent, you should have cancelled checks, receipts from the landlord, or online payment receipts/confirmation emails.

Should I contest their claim in writing and state that she in fact owes me and continuing to cover my half is an acceptable payback method?

I have no opinion about this question. In theory, there's no downside to doing this (although I would only respond to the ex-roommate).

Do I even need to do that if they want take me to court over this?

No. Engaging in pre-litigation communication will be of no relevance if you end up in court.

 

[zddoodah]

So you're saying that this will be decided in court entirely and no communication between us matters at this point?

We have no way of predicting how this will be resolved, but reasonable adults ought to be able to resolve something like this without the hassle of court. If you don't communicate, it won't be resolved except in court. The point is that, if you do end up in court, it won't matter that you communicated prior to doing so.

 

[Deleted member 141656]

A couple things here.

I assume that the initial term of your lease expires at the end of November. However, I assume that, like most leases, it converts to month-to-month if the tenants remain in possession of the premises. Have you given the landlord notice that you vacated? If I were you, I'd ask the landlord for a release from liability for rent for months after November.

I assume that the term of the lease runs from December 1, 2024 through November 30, 2025 (or maybe November 1, 2024 through October 31, 2025). You said you paid the full rent for five of the months that you lived there. Assuming that you didn't do that for the first month, that would mean you paid for the period from December 1, 2024 through April 30, 2025 or January 1 through May 31, 2025 (assuming you paid consecutive months). You said you then agreed to pay another three months of your 1/2 share of the rent, so that would push us through the end of July or the end of August. Am I missing something here? Maybe it was longer than a one-year lease?

It is mid-Nov 24 to mid-Nov 25. I have let the landlord know I have vacated. I will ask for a release of liability when it goes month-to-month.

I paid for the entire deposit (one month's rent), all of the pro-rated month of Nov, all of Dec, Jan, Feb, and March. I have paid half for April and May.
Please, excuse the mistype. It was 2 months half (my share.)

When did you move out?

I moved out in early March even after paying all of the rent that month. Grabbed the last of my things (a couple pieces of furniture) from the garage very beginning of April.

I left behind the washer, dryer, BBQ, and a handmade Persian rug as a goodwill gesture. I paid for all of those things.

You obviously have no obligations to your ex-roommate's father. You might have obligations to your ex-roommate, but it sounds to me like that's offset by the fact that you covered her share of the rent for five months.

I understand. He is giving her money so her payments for rent come through as from her on the tenant portal. It seems if I am stuck on the lease in it's entirety I will be short roughly 0.75 months rent for the year with my share of payments, however, I paid for the deposit in full so that will cover most if not all of it it after the lease ends. So my obligation to ex-roommate will be for the last full month and last prorated month of rent and only my share.

I don't know what "the account ledger" is, but it's likely not admissible evidence if you ever end up in court. Depending on how you paid your rent, you should have cancelled checks, receipts from the landlord, or online payment receipts/confirmation emails.

It's the balance sheet for payments on the tenant portal with who paid by what means and how much and includes payment confirmation numbers.

 

[Deleted member 141656]

We have no way of predicting how this will be resolved, but reasonable adults ought to be able to resolve something like this without the hassle of court. If you don't communicate, it won't be resolved except in court. The point is that, if you do end up in court, it won't matter that you communicated prior to doing so.

I agree. I'm willing to cooperate, but they won't as of now.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

If I understand correctly:

• You signed a one year lease, joint and several with an ex-roomate.
• Both of you agreed to pay half? Was there any agreement, oral or written? I assume it is oral and the agreement was to pay half (but see below.)
• You had to cover 5 months
• You decided to leave after 5 months and agreed to pay 3 more months (8 months + 5 months you double covered = 13 months of 50%)
• You told her to find a roomate and gave her 3 months notice to do so
• After 8 months, she ended up covering the last 4 months (so she covered her half for 11 months)

If I only had a dollar for every person that swore they were going to sue, get a lawyer, etc...

What am I missing here? If you covered your share of the rent in advance - and an extra month - what are they claiming you owe them? I am wondering whether roommate means something more than just a relationship of sharing space equally and whether this ex-roommate believes you were supposed to cover the rent in full for 5 months until the 'breakup' point. I can't say.

No one can prevent someone else from filing a lawsuit. Unfortunately in this country there isn't the remedy that perhaps there should be if a lawsuit is truly frivolous. No one can say for sure what the outcome might be in court, which can be unpredictable at times, especially in small claims court. But if all is as you say and they are insisting somehow that the 5 months you covered should have been your obligation in full, they have a burden of proof and credibility to reach as a plaintiff. Best of luck.

 

[adjusterjack]

Former landlord here. I would not release either of you from anything until both of you were out, I regained possession, inspected, applied the security deposit as appropriate, and whatever was left would be a single check made out to both of you.

If one of you stayed beyond the expiration of the lease, you would both continue to be liable.

If you left owing me money I would go after whoever had the better ability to pay, no matter who paid what along the way.

That's the way a landlord should handle roommate tenants to avoid losing money.

Roommate tenants can be nightmares for each other but they can also be nightmares for the landlord.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Roommate tenants can be nightmares for each other but they can also be nightmares for the landlord.

Absolutely. The whole point of joint and several liability is to address the landlord's desire to have absolutely no involvement between bickering roommates.

It sounds like the rent was going to get paid to the landlord by the remaining tenant, even if it required begging a parent. The only way this makes sense is that the roommate who didn't pay rent for five months had some expectation (reasonable or not) that the roommate who left (and paid 3 additional 50% payments) was expected to cover the entire 5 initial months exclusively and possibly all payments under the lease. Such situations and expectations more often arise in romantic relationships.