My roommate and i have been living together for a month now and he has already bounced two checks to me for rent... What are my options as far as leaving or evicting him? I always pay on time, should i go to my landlord and say here is my half and make him responsible for his half? both of our names are on the lease. what would happen if i just left? do you think they would actually come after me or just break it off in him?
2007-07-26 02:55:19 · 4 answers · asked by bigm789 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
If you are both on the lease, you are jointly and severally liable for the rent. That means that if you only pay your landlord half, he will probably evict you both.
He will then sue whoever he thinks he can collect from for back rent. Presumably, that would be you.
You can't evict him - only the landlord can do that, and only if he is behind in the rent. Unfortunately, he's up to date thanks to you.
So, your only option is small claims court. Get a judgement for him to pay, then you can garnish his wages or force him to sell stuff.
-->Adam
2007-07-26 03:05:22 · answer #1 · answered by great_and_mighty_adam_levine 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Talk to the landlord. They will probably work with you to get him to either pay or get him evicted. The landlord would rather keep the place rented then take you to court, but if you walk away I am sure he would come after you. You would loose your deposit and you would be responsible for the remaider of the lease. Both you and your roommate would be named but since it appears that you are the only one with money...... By the way it is illegal in just about every state to purposely write bad checks. I am sure you could have him arrested and prosicuted if you want to go that far.pp
2007-07-26 10:03:53 · answer #2 · answered by ttpawpaw 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Roommates may decide to split the rent equally or unequally, depending on their share of the apartment, or other factors. These agreements between roommates do not affect the landlord. Each roommate, or co-tenant, is independently liable to the landlord for the entire rent. Many times the landlords will include legal verbiage to this effect, like, “tenants are jointly and severally liable for paying rent and adhering to the terms of the agreement.” For example, if one roommate fails to pay their share of rent, or simply moves out, the other roommate(s) are responsible to make up the difference and pay the full rent.
Many landlords require roommates to pay rent with one check, so someone has to be responsible to collect rent from each roommate and deposit the rent into one bank account to cover the rent check. It’s legal for your landlord to impose the single check, if you and your roommates have been advised of the policy in the rental agreement.
2007-07-29 13:40:57 · answer #3 · answered by Robin L 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hit the road jack!!!
2007-07-26 10:14:47 · answer #4 · answered by Child of God 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋