Roommate quit lease, now we are getting sued

[cari007]

Hello, Me and my brother moved into an apartment together 11/2008 (I was added on as a roommate on the contract), in Febuary of 2009 he lost his job and basically said see ya I am moving out and got a job in another city and moved in with another brother rent free. I could not afford the rent on my own so I was forced to move out as well. He said he was going to break the lease but then proceeded to continue paying rent on an empty aparment out of his savings for a few months after that, (I have NO idea why). His savings ran out and finally in May he contacted the apartment and said he was breaking the lease, they said fine you owe us about 4,000$ for clean up costs (he basically trashed the apt while he lived there- I was hardly there) and a few more months rent to break the lease. He didnt pay it (has no money) and we just received notice that we are going to be sued for the due amount. My question is, is there a way I can get taken out of all this mess? I was just a roommate- or am I stuck with all this as well? He is also claiming I owe him thousands because he paid all that rent money on the empty apartment for those few months. I have a new much cheaper apartment on my own now and cant afford to pay him any of that back. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks, and I am in California

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Most leases tend to be written under a "jointly and severally" clause; this means all parties who signed the contract can be held liable for owed rent or damages.

A person suing others will tend to serve ALL parties involved with the assumption that the more who are sued, the more likely someone will either 1. be found responsible for the debt and/or 2. pay the debt.

You were "just" a roommate who signed a contract and like your brother, broke the contract and moved out before the contract (the lease) ended. At least your brother tried to keep up with the rent payments even after he moved out.

All who signed the contract would be responsible for damages above normal wear and tear and owed rent until the landlord/management could find new tenants to rerent the unit. Management does have an obligation to make an attempt to rerent the place; they can't sit back and do nothing in terms of making an effort to rerent, expecting the former tenants to pay for all of the remaining months on the lease.

And yes, if your brother also paid your share of the rent, he could consider suing you for this amount.

Gail