I need Help… My roommate(s) won't pay their portion of the bills. This is a rather involved case, so I'll start from the beginning.
I originally lived by myself when a very nice townhouse that my friends currently occupied became available. They were buying a house, and offered for me take over the townhouse. I asked my current neighbor if she would be interested in living with me in this townhouse and she agreed. I moved in with my friends until the closing on their new house was to happen. The closing was supposed to take 1 month. Due to construction issues it turned into 6 months and my soon to be roommate couldn't wait anymore and had to cancel her plans to live with me. So I asked my (at the time) very good friend (the person I plan on taking to court) to move in. She said "I'll have to think about it" and while I was waiting for a definite answer, I prepared a "proposal of tenancy". This document was done in a "cheeky" fashion outlining all the benefits of the townhouse and what I would do for her as a thank you for moving in. Although "Cheeky", I did mean everything I said. This document specified I would pay her car payment for July, pay for all moving expenses, make all arrangements for moving, and put $200 towards the "heating oil" to help her make the transition from a small apartment with heat included, to one that does not include it. This townhouse was less rent and much more spacious than her current apartment. After reading this document, and the adding an addendum of her own which included her obtaining the master bedroom and the hiring of a cleaning lady, She decided to accept this offer. This was agreed upon in July, and she moved out of her apartment in Aug. I put all her stuff in storage and she lived with her parents until Oct 2005 when she moved in. The month before I had started a home based office and worked from home. She had no problem, and did the same as she was a real estate broker. We soon discovered there was no oil when the gas bill came. The heat, the hot water, stove, and dryer all ran off natural gas. The gas, and cable were in my name, and the electric in hers. Right around this time she meet guy ( I disliked him very much) and immediately started dating him. I made a deposit of 200.00 (as outlined in the proposal) towards the gas. Then tragically her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer… this was very hard on my roommate naturally. She was not working very much and had very little money. I didn't have the heart to demand money from her and paid it with my own money and my company's money. Keep in mind this is one of my best friends so it wasn't that big of a deal. Then, her mother passes away(March). It was very sad for me to watch her go through this and I still could bear ask her for the money yet. Now, this is where is gets really tough! She asked me if her boyfriend could move in because she was so upset… and, that if I said no they would leave to get their own place. I said if Dean (The landlord) was fine with it I was too, just as long as all bills are paid three ways. They agreed and He moved in(April). Then they got a dog (I have a cat that is terrified of dogs), I said did you get permission from Dean? They said yes. They Lied and Dean got pissed that there was a dog on the property, so they moved out. I never got any money for the gas which runs the Heater, Cooking Stove, Laundry Dryer and Hot water heater. I'm also stuck with the Cable bill that they paid twice out of ten months. The Gas has totaled $1,700 and the Cable 1,500. They owe me about $1,500, but I decided to settle with her for $700.00 because of her tough times, if she didn't agree to pay the $700.00 I would take her to court for the whole amount. She agreed, and then he canceled the agreement and wants to go to court.
Will I win?
I originally lived by myself when a very nice townhouse that my friends currently occupied became available. They were buying a house, and offered for me take over the townhouse. I asked my current neighbor if she would be interested in living with me in this townhouse and she agreed. I moved in with my friends until the closing on their new house was to happen. The closing was supposed to take 1 month. Due to construction issues it turned into 6 months and my soon to be roommate couldn't wait anymore and had to cancel her plans to live with me. So I asked my (at the time) very good friend (the person I plan on taking to court) to move in. She said "I'll have to think about it" and while I was waiting for a definite answer, I prepared a "proposal of tenancy". This document was done in a "cheeky" fashion outlining all the benefits of the townhouse and what I would do for her as a thank you for moving in. Although "Cheeky", I did mean everything I said. This document specified I would pay her car payment for July, pay for all moving expenses, make all arrangements for moving, and put $200 towards the "heating oil" to help her make the transition from a small apartment with heat included, to one that does not include it. This townhouse was less rent and much more spacious than her current apartment. After reading this document, and the adding an addendum of her own which included her obtaining the master bedroom and the hiring of a cleaning lady, She decided to accept this offer. This was agreed upon in July, and she moved out of her apartment in Aug. I put all her stuff in storage and she lived with her parents until Oct 2005 when she moved in. The month before I had started a home based office and worked from home. She had no problem, and did the same as she was a real estate broker. We soon discovered there was no oil when the gas bill came. The heat, the hot water, stove, and dryer all ran off natural gas. The gas, and cable were in my name, and the electric in hers. Right around this time she meet guy ( I disliked him very much) and immediately started dating him. I made a deposit of 200.00 (as outlined in the proposal) towards the gas. Then tragically her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer… this was very hard on my roommate naturally. She was not working very much and had very little money. I didn't have the heart to demand money from her and paid it with my own money and my company's money. Keep in mind this is one of my best friends so it wasn't that big of a deal. Then, her mother passes away(March). It was very sad for me to watch her go through this and I still could bear ask her for the money yet. Now, this is where is gets really tough! She asked me if her boyfriend could move in because she was so upset… and, that if I said no they would leave to get their own place. I said if Dean (The landlord) was fine with it I was too, just as long as all bills are paid three ways. They agreed and He moved in(April). Then they got a dog (I have a cat that is terrified of dogs), I said did you get permission from Dean? They said yes. They Lied and Dean got pissed that there was a dog on the property, so they moved out. I never got any money for the gas which runs the Heater, Cooking Stove, Laundry Dryer and Hot water heater. I'm also stuck with the Cable bill that they paid twice out of ten months. The Gas has totaled $1,700 and the Cable 1,500. They owe me about $1,500, but I decided to settle with her for $700.00 because of her tough times, if she didn't agree to pay the $700.00 I would take her to court for the whole amount. She agreed, and then he canceled the agreement and wants to go to court.
Will I win?
