Roommate moved out on March 2 (was actually supposed to be end of Feb.- but he procrastinated and didn't finish until the 2nd of the following month). My girlfriend was moving in on the 1st of March.
We drafted agreements between us to deal with returning the security deposit to him and repaying each other for left over bills and furniture.
We also included terms for fixing/painting/cleaning the room he left and the place.
1) He was responsible for half the costs associated with taking care of the areas we had shared
2) He was fully responsible for the costs associated with taking care of the space he occupied.
After inspecting his room (on the 2nd of March), I noted that there were several (25+ unsanded patches throughout all four walls of the bedroom & bathroom (from holes he had created), hard pencil lines on some of the walls, 3 bigger than nail sized un-patched holes in the closet...a few days after I also realized that the internet cable (which was attached to the wall with 24 nails) in his room was still up.
I agreed to let him come back to finish his job and to either paint himself or see what professionals would have charged to do the same--he wanted to do the cheaper of the two.
The lowest quote I found was $140-150, he indicated that he'd prefer to do it himself.
Because we could not agree on a day--I wanted to paint on a different day--I said I would do it, but would buy the supplies necessary and just charge him for it. I told him he'd only be responsible for his room that my girl and I would just deal with the common areas on our own in the end.
He then indicated that he would only pay for the paint. I indicated that much more was needed (and listed the minimum things needed--roller, brush, tape, etc). He wanted to split the tools claiming that since I would possibly use them for the other areas, we should split. I did not agree with this--I would not have had to buy these things at this point if it weren't for his not doing his job before he moved out. Also, he believe that he was only responsible for painting over the patched that he did (remember that there were several patched through all the walls of the bedroom). Not the entire wall to make everything match.
I bought the materials (remember I had to buy paint and tools as well as things needed for patching the several unpatched holes) and completed (for the most part) the job. It took me several hours to do everything, but I believe I did a good job.
Since I had paid half of what I owed him once he moved out and owed him the other half on April 2nd. I received a utility bill 1/2 of which was his responsibility and deducted that in addition to the cost of the materials alone (less than $65) required for finishing his room from what I owed him.
He's now threatening me with small claims court because he claims I didn't live up to my part of the bargain. Does he have a case? Was I unjustified/wrong? I had reason to believe he would have done a poor job and that he wouldn't have paid what he should have.
We drafted agreements between us to deal with returning the security deposit to him and repaying each other for left over bills and furniture.
We also included terms for fixing/painting/cleaning the room he left and the place.
1) He was responsible for half the costs associated with taking care of the areas we had shared
2) He was fully responsible for the costs associated with taking care of the space he occupied.
After inspecting his room (on the 2nd of March), I noted that there were several (25+ unsanded patches throughout all four walls of the bedroom & bathroom (from holes he had created), hard pencil lines on some of the walls, 3 bigger than nail sized un-patched holes in the closet...a few days after I also realized that the internet cable (which was attached to the wall with 24 nails) in his room was still up.
I agreed to let him come back to finish his job and to either paint himself or see what professionals would have charged to do the same--he wanted to do the cheaper of the two.
The lowest quote I found was $140-150, he indicated that he'd prefer to do it himself.
Because we could not agree on a day--I wanted to paint on a different day--I said I would do it, but would buy the supplies necessary and just charge him for it. I told him he'd only be responsible for his room that my girl and I would just deal with the common areas on our own in the end.
He then indicated that he would only pay for the paint. I indicated that much more was needed (and listed the minimum things needed--roller, brush, tape, etc). He wanted to split the tools claiming that since I would possibly use them for the other areas, we should split. I did not agree with this--I would not have had to buy these things at this point if it weren't for his not doing his job before he moved out. Also, he believe that he was only responsible for painting over the patched that he did (remember that there were several patched through all the walls of the bedroom). Not the entire wall to make everything match.
I bought the materials (remember I had to buy paint and tools as well as things needed for patching the several unpatched holes) and completed (for the most part) the job. It took me several hours to do everything, but I believe I did a good job.
Since I had paid half of what I owed him once he moved out and owed him the other half on April 2nd. I received a utility bill 1/2 of which was his responsibility and deducted that in addition to the cost of the materials alone (less than $65) required for finishing his room from what I owed him.
He's now threatening me with small claims court because he claims I didn't live up to my part of the bargain. Does he have a case? Was I unjustified/wrong? I had reason to believe he would have done a poor job and that he wouldn't have paid what he should have.
