Roommate breaking a lease and leaving property....

[lostinchicago]

Here is the brief synopsis of what happened recently.

I had a friend in Kentucky(R), he was interested in moving to Chicago where I currently live.. He came to visit in july and enjoyed it so decided he would do so at a later date.

He was able to move up here around the first of August. He was staying with a friend of mine but stored his property at my house. Now my girlfriend and I share a studio apartment. Our lease is up at the end of Sept. so we were looking for a two bedroom apartment to share with our friend. The 3 of us would live there, my girlfriend and I in one bedroom and R in the other.

We were able to get our friend a job and we eventually found an apartment for all 3 of us to move into October 1st. We all 3 signed the lease. Two days after signing the lease the friend, R, told us that his grandmother was sick and he had to visit home immediately. He left on Sunday and was supposed to return on Tuesday. I find out through a friend that he lied to me and he didn't even have a return bus ride to Tuesday. He bought a one way ticket, lied to us about his grandmother who isn't even sick and was just going home to bail on us. He left a drum set in my closet. He has not called me directly, I found out that he doesn't plan on returning and went home solely because he just didn't want to stay through family.

What I want to know is, am I allowed to send him a certified letter stating what he owes me for the lease and also that he has 15 days to return to pick up his property or I will consider it abandoned and I will dispose of it myself? Should I state that the property will be sold to recover my loss? The rent was 850 a month and 1275 security deposit. I need to know what actions I can take to cover myself if I end up having to get rid of his property. I do not have the space to store it for more than a month so it must be gone as soon as possible. If I sale it do they have a legal grounds to sue me even if I give them a reasonable notice? Pls help.....

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Here is the brief synopsis of what happened recently.

I had a friend in Kentucky(R), he was interested in moving to Chicago where I currently live.. He came to visit in july and enjoyed it so decided he would do so at a later date.

He was able to move up here around the first of August. He was staying with a friend of mine but stored his property at my house. Now my girlfriend and I share a studio apartment. Our lease is up at the end of Sept. so we were looking for a two bedroom apartment to share with our friend. The 3 of us would live there, my girlfriend and I in one bedroom and R in the other.

We were able to get our friend a job and we eventually found an apartment for all 3 of us to move into October 1st. We all 3 signed the lease. Two days after signing the lease the friend, R, told us that his grandmother was sick and he had to visit home immediately. He left on Sunday and was supposed to return on Tuesday. I find out through a friend that he lied to me and he didn't even have a return bus ride to Tuesday. He bought a one way ticket, lied to us about his grandmother who isn't even sick and was just going home to bail on us. He left a drum set in my closet. He has not called me directly, I found out that he doesn't plan on returning and went home solely because he just didn't want to stay through family.

What I want to know is, am I allowed to send him a certified letter stating what he owes me for the lease and also that he has 15 days to return to pick up his property or I will consider it abandoned and I will dispose of it myself? Should I state that the property will be sold to recover my loss? The rent was 850 a month and 1275 security deposit. I need to know what actions I can take to cover myself if I end up having to get rid of his property. I do not have the space to store it for more than a month so it must be gone as soon as possible. If I sale it do they have a legal grounds to sue me even if I give them a reasonable notice? Pls help.....

R has a bunch of issues. To begin, R is likely liable to the landlord for the full amount of the lease, as are all of you. You could potentially sue him for the entire amount he owes all year but you must take steps to "mitigate" your damages reasonably. You should look for another roomate and I have no doubt you will since that will be an easier way to fill in 33% of the rent then having to sue R, collect, etc.

Regarding storage, I won't pass law for regarding your jurisdiction but providing reasonable notice as you stated would put you in a good position to get rid of it. I cannot imagine the law is that much different. You must give reasonable notice despite your feeling that you should have the immediate right to sell the items. I might give him 30 days from the date of the letter (or two weeks from receipt) and send the written notice via a certifiable method. I would not sell the property to cover the loss immediately. In a way this is just good old common sense. Good luck and let us know how things turn out.