Oh SASSY ladies (and gents), if you only knew about the day I’ve had today.
Long story short I have a deadbeat roommate. Early on he showed deadbeat tendencies, such as smoking in his room even though our lease says not and stinking up the house with the smoke. But I try to see the good in people, and figured that even though he was a jerk most of the time, he would never go into full asshole mode (sorry for the swears Mom). Today he showed me wrong.
Essentially for 2 weeks we’ve been asking this dude to pay his rent and for 2 weeks he’s said he wants to use his security deposit to do so. *insert screwface here* Even though that makes no sense (as our lease isn’t up until 2 months and because there’s a 90% chance we’re not going to get that deposit back (see my “f this couch” album for why)), he insisted that this was his plan. I thought he might split but I didn’t actually do it. But he did it. We came home today and his stuff was gone and his keys were on the coffee table. This fool really moved out when we were at work. And had the nerve the email saying essentially “I’m out. Good luck.” So so lame.
So what’s a SASSY woman to do?
Initially I kicked myself for not changing the lock on his bedroom door. I figured as long as his stuff was in the house, he couldn’t possibly just split. A little research showed me that this was illegal, so it’s best that I didn’t actually get around to changing that lock.
So I turned to my favorite lawyer, of Ask Bari fame, and she gave me some good advise. Essentially she told me, the moment this fool said I’m not paying rent and moved all his stuff out the apartment, he committed anticipatory repudiation. He breached our contract (the lease) and we can now file breach of contract suits against him. Even though this will be a mega headache, this dude is messing with my money. And we can’t have that, can we ladies and gents?
Unfortunately, we still have to pay the full amont of rent in the meantime – we all signed the lease and are therefore responsible for paying rent. It totally sucks, but I’m not going to mess with our landlady, who is a lawyer, and be taken to court myself.
If he’s smart, he’ll send a check for two months of rent and call it a day. If he’s an idiot, which is very likely, we will see him in small claims court.
I’ll let you know how it turns out.
peace,
e.
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Good luck. As someone who’s dealt with deadbeat tenants before, it’s a hassle. Small Claims Court is a hassle. In all truth, the likelihood of you seeing any money out of him is slim to none. If there’s a moral to the story, it’s that you have to underwrite anyone you go into a contract with being “jointly and severally liable.”
Aw man that’s not what I wanted to hear. I still think it’s worth a shot. Thanks for the comment!
Awww dag, I so feel your pain! I had a similar incident happen to me a few years back with my roommate whom, mind you, I had known since I was 8 or 9 years old!
This broad did the same exact thing, I was out of town on business and returned home to a nearly empty house! My first reaction was “OMG we’ve been robbed!” as I quickly checked for signs of a break-in and my finger on the 911 keys I quickly realized that all of HER stuff had been removed from the house. All of my things were intact the way I’d left them.
Not only had this chick decided to move out without any forewarning, but had the AUDACITY to send a threatening text msg 2 days later to say she would take LEGAL ACTION against me if I didn’t pay my half of the bills we shared that were in her name. WTF~is all I could think of! Perhaps if I had known she was going to be such a DEADBEAT ROOMMATE, I would have thought 2xs maybe even 3xs before moving in.
Lesson Learned: Try to live on your own, less headaches that way!
hey miss…
sorry about all this again. i got ripped for a sizeable amount by a peer about a year ago and wanted to take the person to small claims court. i did a bunch of research and basically what the first commenter said is true: although the court may rule in your favor, the court takes no responsibility for acting as a collection agency.
i’d think there would/should be a way to enforce payment (shit – put that fool in jail or something
) – but it doesn’t work like that. it can end up being a long iterative process of court dates and paperwork. a step from there would be trying to garnish wages and what not. personally, it hasn’t been worth my time so far – i have up to two years from the incident date to file in CA.
still, it haunts me on principle. so even if you end up not getting your money – inconvenience the shit out of that em eff for being a lame….if you have the patience and are willing to take the time. hope all works out in the end to your favor.
take care.
seher
Hi Eva –
As a landlord myself — and as a former renter with numerous crazy roommate stories (really, I should write a book!) — I know two things for sure:
1) You’ll win in Small Claims, but won’t be able to enforce collection. Your best bet is to see if you can get a collection agency to take it on. They’ll work it on a contingency, so they’ll keep a percentage IF they collect. But the main thing you’ll get out of it is that failure to collect the debt will be reported to credit agencies. And that’s the gift that keeps on giving! Even though you won’t personally know how it affects him, he’ll be reminded of you — and how he ran out on you — every time someone pulls his credit.
2) Even though you’re unlikely to recover any money from him, you should still absolutely pursue this. Attempting to hold him responsible for his behavior is the right thing to do, and it will allow you to put it to rest within your own mind.
Good luck! Keep us posted.
Wow, that’s just soo rude! If you saw him in the street would you have to refrain yourself from beating him down?
So what ever happened to the case?
Stuck with deadbeat named Jeff.
Complained about everything before he even moved in.
Unfortunately, he is on lease with me (I signed long-term, he was just added, but can leave with 30 day notice). He decides when he will pay hsi portion of rent, tried to change the contract when he signed it (even complained on lease that there was a spider in his room!!!). Management is on my side, but I know my recourse is limited. Can someone suggest best course of action? Thanks. AMB
you’re really limited b/c he’s on the lease. i think the only way to you could get rid of him is if management kicks him out for late rent, i’m not sure there’s much you can actually do to get rid of him. sorry your roommate sucks.
e.