Lease Occupant Leaves without Notice, What to Do?

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zildjian88

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Good evening,

First off what a great forum! I spent some time looking through it to make sure I wasn't double posting, and what a great knowledgebase. Buttkissing aside, I have a real problem.

I live in a Camden Living apartment in VA. Room mate A is the lease holder, I, and room mate B are both listed as occupants on the lease. I come home from work today to find that room mate B has cleared his stuff out without notifying us or Camden. 2 Days before rent is due, no less. He has not stolen any of our property, but has left a few things here I assume he would want (a playstation 3, bed frame, few shelves, some mail). He did not return his key so he has a key to the place still. We also did confirm that he was not coming back, because we reminded him via text message that rent was due by thursday and he responded "I dont live there anymore."

Fortunately I know where he works, we have some things of his like mail which he may need, so its not like he completely has disappeared. I guess my question is legally, what can I do? What SHOULD I do in a situation like this? Any advice (other than make sure everyone is on the lease next time?)

Thanks so much in advance. I hope you all can help.
 
If you have nothing in writing obligating the "missing person" to the debt (the rental payments), there is very little you can do.

You can't evict him, as he claims he no longer lives there.

That could be used to prove that he did once reside there as a tenant.

But, to what end? A few bucks and lots of headaches?

Its time to move on.

The dude stiffed you.

I'd thank your lucky stars he's gone and didn't steal any of your junk.
 
i wish he stole my junk. then I could actually go after him for something. Instead I have to cover 5 months of his rent or get out early and pay 2 months...

I am going to talk to the leasing office tomorrow morning to see what we can do.
 
zildjian88 said:
i wish he stole my junk. then I could actually go after him for something. Instead I have to cover 5 months of his rent or get out early and pay 2 months...

I am going to talk to the leasing office tomorrow morning to see what we can do.
Click to expand...

See, therein lies your problem.
You let him slide for five months.
You could sue him in small claims for the back rent.
But, if he hasn't paid in five months, he surely wouldn't cough it up when you showed him your judgment.
You'd have to collect on the judgment, assuming you'd win.
Suing a deadbeat is easy.
Beating a deadbeat in court is easy.
Collecting on a judgment against that deadbeat, is almost impossible in most cases.
Besides, you need the money now, not in six, maybe eight or even ten weeks.
 
i dont think you understand. I am not the landlord. Camden owns he apartment. Camden is a company and we pay Camden. He has paid monthly but we have 5 months left on our lease. So we will see what happens
 
Check with management to see if you can find another tenant to take this persons place. Once you find someone, request that management change the locks on the apartment since the previous tenant still has a key for access.

Then, if you wish, you can consider suing your former roommate for his share of the rent you had to pay until a new roommate was found plus any advertising costs you incurred while doing this.

Gail
 
If you think he has the money, file a small claims suit against him. He did not give proper notice and will owe you at least one month's rent, plus anything else you might be able to prove.
If he is broke, don't waste your time.
Your best solution, as mentioned above, is to get a new roommate as soon as possible to minimize the damage.
 
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