Most of the time, the lease specifies that cotenants are " jointly and severally liable " for paying rent—meaning that the landlord can seek the full amount of rent from any cotenant, no matter what payment arrangement the cotenants made. Although a signed lease demonstrates your cotenant's responsibility for paying rent, you will likely need additional evidence—such as a roommate agreement —to demonstrate any arrangement to share rent in an unequal manner.
Rental agreement. A rental agreement is similar to a lease , except that it establishes a shorter-term usually month-to-month tenancy. Cotenants under a rental agreement are most likely jointly and severally liable for rent. Just like a lease, although a cotenant is responsible for paying rent under a rental agreement, you'll likely need something else to show any agreements to share rent unequally. Sublease or assignment.
If your roommate was living in the rental under a sublease or assignment , it's possible that you won't have a copy.
You can request a copy from your landlord. A sublease or assignment agreement will likely state the exact amount of rent your roommate was responsible for. Roommate agreement. If your roommate didn't sign the lease or rental agreement, hopefully you put any agreement to share rent in writing. Alternatively, even if you are cotenants under a lease or rental agreement, you might have agreed to share rent in another writing, such as a formal contract or an email.
Send Your Roommate a Written Request for the Unpaid Rent Assuming you've already asked your roommate for the back rent with no results , or tried unsuccessfully to work out a compromise , you should send a written letter what's known as a demand letter requesting the rent money.
Preparing to Sue Most of the time, the best venue for filing a lawsuit against a roommate is your local small claims court. Your Court Date If you decide to file a small claims suit, you'll be given a court date on which the judge will hear your case and likely make a decision. The key to winning your court case is providing the court with tangible proof that: You and your roommate had a rent-sharing agreement.
As discussed above, a written agreement is best, but a court will consider oral testimony and other forms of evidence, such as a landlord's testimony about receiving rent or a friend's testimony about hearing you discuss a rent agreement with your roommate.
Your roommate broke the agreement. You can present a copy of your demand letter to your roommate, as well as email or other correspondence relating to the missing rent. You suffered a financial loss because your roommate broke the agreement. Canceled checks or electronic receipts of the rent you paid on your roommate's behalf can demonstrate your out-of-pocket losses, as can a written statement or testimony from your landlord. Talk to a Lawyer Need a lawyer?
Start here. Practice Area Please select Zip Code. How it Works Briefly tell us about your case Provide your contact information Choose attorneys to contact you. Free Legal Information. Each roommate probably is responsible for all of the rent, unless you have a written lease that says otherwise. If your roommate does not pay the rent, or moves out, your landlord can make you pay all of it.
To avoid this, you can try to write into the lease that each roommate is only responsible for his or her own share of the rent. Remember to get signed, dated receipts whenever you pay rent — whether you pay it to a roommate or the landlord.
If you pay with a money order, you still need a receipt from the landlord! Who is responsible for the utilities? If you put your name on the utility account, you are responsible for the whole bill. But, if there is only 1 meter for 2 or more units, the landlord is usually responsible. See our fact sheet Shared Utility Meters. The utility company may tell you that every roommate is responsible for the whole bill, even if their name is not on the account.
We disagree. We think that only the named customer is responsible. If a phone, gas, electric, or water company wants you to pay a bill, and you never agreed to service in your name, talk to your local legal aid office. You can find them on www. Talk to your roommates about whose name should be on the account. If your name is on the account, budget enough money to pay the whole bill each month, in case a roommate does not pay. If you miss payments, you can get late fees, a bad credit rating, or the utilities can be shut-off.
You can set up a budget plan with the utility company, so you pay the same amount each month. That way, each roommate knows how much they owe each month. When you call to get utility service, they can ask who lives with you. You do not have to tell them. For starters, your landlord could notify a consumer reporting company such as RentBureau, which is owned by the credit bureau Experian, about the missed payments. And if your landlord is really upset, they could skip that step altogether and contact the credit bureaus directly.
Either way, this could appear as a negative mark on your credit report. You can do it yourself, but you may want to hire an attorney to help with the paperwork. What you can do, however, is bring a civil procedure to sue for your share of the money.
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