Lease issue with Roommate

[legalhelp703]

Jurisdiction

Virginia

I've been trying to help my former roommate find a roommate to replace my spot in the apartment. It has been 61 days now since my first set of ads online and facebook post. I moved away to CA and still paid rent but now I have to afford my own rent where I live in CA. He has a lease that is another year longer since he signed for 2 years. I came on after he signed for 2 years but was added to the lease and he's not saying I'm liable for payment until the lease ends.

He's also being picky about who's going to potentially move with him. I cannot vet anyone that's going to live with him since this is in Arlington, VA and he's claiming I'm not putting in the effort to help him find someone and that he's helping me by adjusting his weekends to let people come by the place and visit. At this point, I'm just ticked off and offered to break the lease and pay the rent for up to two months, which is stipulated in our lease. However, he's trying to say I'll be liable for all lease break fees instead of half since we're both on it.

He's also trying to charge me for his cable bill he uses which is in his name and he has every package that I never asked for, as well as other utilities. Technically he doesn't pay 'half the rent', he pays his cable and utilities in his name and deducts whatever the total amount of his utilities from the rent.

What is my angle here now?

 

[army judge]

What is my angle here now?

You have none, other than to claim he's not diligently mitigating his damages.


This is why smart ADULTS don't become roomies.

However, suing you in CA will be financially foolish for him.

Some people in your position try to negotiate a settlement.

Some people simply say, bring it.

Good luck.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Roommate agreements are fine IF you know the consequences and have an agreement that allows for a clean break. @army judge refers to the 99.9% of the time where people don't really think through the issues and where roommate agreements end up in disaster. These agreements are even worse when you are a joint tenant with your name on the lease.

Here's your problem - you were added to the lease as a joint tenant. This means in all likelihood that your roommate is not the only one who has to approve your suggested roommate but also your landlord. And even if you do get a tenant you're likely responsible for payment on the lease for the remainder of the lease if the new roommate does not pay unless the landlord agrees to give you a novation. That means the landlord releases you as a joint tenant for the remainder of the lease.

And the above is right on about mitigation of damages. All you need to do is show you've provided your roommate with reasonable substitutes and he will have a difficult time winning a case in court. And if he has made unreasonable demands to see the place, it will only hurt his ability to collect - but you need to show that at least you provided substitute roommates that might have been able to see the place and potentially take the room. When you can, avoid roommate agreements as you can now understand the difficulties if you don't have options spelled out.