Can I take and old roommate to small claims?

[Phoenix8936]

Ok last year (Oct 2008) a friend and me decided to lease a house because both our jobs were moving to the area. Both our name were on the lease and all the utilities were in my name. This August she changed jobs again and decided to move out (with a month notice). The lease was for 18 months, Oct 2008- April 2009.
That left me holding the responsibility for the lease/ rent, I worked with the landlords to have the lease end effective Dec 31st 2009, during the time from Aug to dec I had to pay the rent myself along with the utilities.

1st question is: Do I have a case against her for the 5 months of the half of the rent, or is that not possible since both our name were on the lease and after she moved out I paid the rent fully to the landlords?

2nd question is: Can I figure in half of the the utilities for that timeframe also?

 

[Antigone]

Ok last year (Oct 2008) a friend and me decided to lease a house because both our jobs were moving to the area. Both our name were on the lease and all the utilities were in my name. This August she changed jobs again and decided to move out (with a month notice). The lease was for 18 months, Oct 2008- April 2009.
That left me holding the responsibility for the lease/ rent, I worked with the landlords to have the lease end effective Dec 31st 2009, during the time from Aug to dec I had to pay the rent myself along with the utilities.

1st question is: Do I have a case against her for the 5 months of the half of the rent, or is that not possible since both our name were on the lease and after she moved out I paid the rent fully to the landlords?

2nd question is: Can I figure in half of the the utilities for that timeframe also?

What have you done to mitigate your losses? Have you looked for another roommate to take her place?

 

[Phoenix8936]

I have asked her to pay and and she has just said i dont have the money for it, and has gone to the "let the landlords take me to court i dont care", type of attitude...

Yes it was advertised the whole time and did not get rented out till earlier this month. Will it matter though ? I mean she was under a signed lease agreement and stopped paying on it and moved out

The landlord and I had it advertised on craigslist, I think I have one copy of an ad, would I need to show proof that it was advertised during that time ?

 

[mightymoose]

It depends how the lease is worded. Why has the landlord not pursued your friend for breaking the lease? Did your landlord give permission to break the lease?
Even though your friend gave notice, the friend is on the hook for the remainder of the lease, and like you, should be making a reasonable effort to minimize the damages.
It is hard to believe that a legitimate effort to rent the space was unsuccessful for over a year. You can make the argument in court, but you better be prepared to lay it out right.

 

[Phoenix8936]

It depends how the lease is worded. Why has the landlord not pursued your friend for breaking the lease? Did your landlord give permission to break the lease?
Even though your friend gave notice, the friend is on the hook for the remainder of the lease, and like you, should be making a reasonable effort to minimize the damages.
It is hard to believe that a legitimate effort to rent the space was unsuccessful for over a year. You can make the argument in court, but you better be prepared to lay it out right.

The landlord did not pursue her due to the fact I have paid it in full still. The landlord cancelled the lease this month because they found someone to rent it out. It was up for rent for 4 months only, not for over a year Sept 2009-Dec 2009.
Im considering taking her to court because of her not paying half of the rent amount by moving out and not paying. Sort of a reimbursement to me, not the landlord

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Yes; you can certainly sue her for her share of the owed rent you had to pay in order to prevent facing an eviction for nonpayment of rent. The utilities issue is a bit stickier; a judge is not likely to award you damages for utilities that she did not use.

However, please understand that taking someone to court and winning a judgement is, unfortunately, no guarantee that that person will actually pay up. Winning a judgement would open up other options, including bank and/or employment garnishment (depending on what state she works in and how she gets her funds).

Gail