deadbeat roommate

[sydneejayne]

OK... So, I moved into an apartment with a friend from work and we both signed the lease. We went into the apartment agreeing that for the first couple of months I would pay the rent and he would pay the utilities then after a couple of months we would switch. Well, we never got to the switching part and my roommate decided that he wanted to break the lease. He did not hold up his end of the deal--I paid all of the rent and utilities and rent. Since he decided to break the leas around christmas time I had noone else to replace him. I had no choice but to break the lease and pay the fees.

I feel that since we did not get to him paying his half that he should pay me half of what I already had to pay. He says that he does not owe me anything and I want to know all that I can sue for and win. What I want to sue for is: his hald of the rent, the deposits that I would have gotten back had we carried out the lease, and the half I paid on the lease break since I would not have had to pay it had he held up his end of the deal.

I just want to know if this is reasonable and if I could win in a small claims court in Chandler, Arizona.


Please any legal advice would be helpful.

 

[Duranie]

Actually I live in Chandler. Hello neighbor!


If you had a written lease, he is probably on the hook for whatever he signed on paper. That is going to be much easier to prove than any verbal agreement.

If he broke the lease, you are required to mitigate your damages and look for another roommate. So depending on how early he broke the lease, he probably is on the hook for some of it.

Seems to me that sionce he signed the lease, it would not be too hard to recover damages. You can probably file on line and have him served for a small fee. Hopefully you have an address for him.

Seems reasonable he would be on the hook for half of the fees to break the lease and half of any deposit.

If you did not attempt though to look for another roommate, you might not get the full amount you are asking for but small claims is cheaop and informal so you might as well ask and see if you can get it.

 

[seniorjudge]

Actually I live in Chandler. Hello neighbor!


If you had a written lease, he is probably on the hook for whatever he signed on paper. That is going to be much easier to prove than any verbal agreement.

If he broke the lease, you are required to mitigate your damages and look for another roommate. So depending on how early he broke the lease, he probably is on the hook for some of it.

Seems to me that sionce he signed the lease, it would not be too hard to recover damages. You can probably file on line and have him served for a small fee. Hopefully you have an address for him.

Seems reasonable he would be on the hook for half of the fees to break the lease and half of any deposit.

If you did not attempt though to look for another roommate, you might not get the full amount you are asking for but small claims is cheaop and informal so you might as well ask and see if you can get it.

Good answer.