Roommate stopped paying, living there, emptied, didn't clean room, still on lease...

[tellmethetruth]

Our roommate decided at the beginning of Sept that he wanted to move out. He conferred with one of our roommates, but he never talked to me (and I am the one who pays all the bills, including rent). So i heard that he was interested in moving out, but that was all - no details. He did not pay rent for this month, only utilities. He has a bad habit of not paying bills on time, so this wasn't so unusual. Also, I did not know I was allowed to have a say on whether or not he leaves the lease early. So, about a week before September ends he leaves this paper at our rental house to fully release him from the lease as of September 30th. I refused because he had not paid for September, still had all of his stuff there, and had not discussed it with me (and I had no money to cover his portion of the rent out of my own pocket). He wouldn't pay anything after that, including the 3-month water bill that started in June because he wanted to keep his entire deposit. Finally, I agreed because I wanted him out so I told him fine keep your deposit, just pay the water bill and as much of October as you are here. So, he took all his big stuff out but left a box of junk and garbage in his room and had a really messy floor with coins and dirt. We found new roommates which are currently filling out paperwork but we cannot get ahold of our old roommate to sort this thing out. It is now the 20th and he has not come to finish cleaning, so we have done it for him, as our new roommates are fully ready. So, now I am unsure of what to do. Because of all this hassle I don't want to give him his deposit back, but definitely want the money for October rent (which is still adding up as he hasn't tried to finish cleaning or take the last bits of stuff of his) and the water bill and the price of a movie he stole. As soon as he pays, I would liked to sign him off the lease and the new roommates on. But has been proving to be pretty impossible and our rental agency doesn't want to get involved. Also, he still has the key to our rental house. Is there anyway I can start a legal case, sue him for September and OCtober rent plus water bill? And would my case be lost if I signed him off the lease before he paid me? What can I do?
Thank you.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Since you are handling all of the bills, you can "act" as the landlord in all of this.

Notify him IN WRITING of the status of his security deposit within the time frame required by your state (30 days); deposit minus his owed rent for September, minus October rent (he's still "on the clock" for this month since he hasn't returned the keys), minus any owed utilities. Send this notice (with any remaining security deposit) either his current address (if you know where he lives) or his last known address (the rental unit if you don't know where he's at). If to the rental unit, collect the notice when it comes and hold it UNOPENED as evidence that you did attempt to notify him of the status of this.

And yes, if the security deposit does not cover all of this you can consider filing a lawsuit against him. Such lawsuits are typically handled through Small Claims court as the filing fees for such are minimal and the parties involved typically represent themselves instead of the added cost of an attorney.

Gail