Roommate Gives 11 Days to Find New Roommate, Moving Out Won't Pay Any Bills or Rent

[princessj91]

My question involves a roommate in the State of: Washington

On March 10th, 2011 Myself and my roommate moved into our apartment which is $800 a month plus utilities on April 20th she texts me saying she's moving out and I have 11 days to find a new roommate and she will not be paying any part of rent or utilties after April 30th. On the 24th she texts me again telling me I have to sign her off the lease. And I tell her 11 days is not enough time to find a new roommate and will not sign her off the lease until one is found. She then tells me she is still moving out and that I will just have a roommate who doesn't pay rent. I told her she is still on the lease it is still half her responsiblity and that she will continue to pay her half of the rent until I can find a roommate to replace her. She then threatens me that if i don't sign her off the lease she will tell the office that my girlfriend lives there and get me evicted. My girlfriend does not live there she sleeps over a couple nights a week, doesnt shower there do laundry and only sleeps there. I still refused to sign her off the lease. 4 days later I get a notice from the landlord about my girlfriend supposedly living ther. I go talk to them and confirm that she does not live there in any way and that my roommate is trying to bully me into signing her off the lease. The next night I come home from work to find the heat, water heater, garbage disposal, the water valve shut off, and the washer and dryer unplugged. I looked at my lease and that is a clear violation of the lease that she did just to make me mad.

My questions are:

Is there anything I can do to make sure she is held responsible for her part of the rent until I find a replacement roommate? ( I am actively searching) I paid next months entire rent just to make sure i wasn't going to be kicked out for failure to pay.

Can she get me evicted by making things up to get out of paying her rent?

Can she get herself evicted for violating the lease?

What can be done if she is not out by midnight on the 30th? Since I paid full rent and all utilites?

[Mr. Knowitall]

Your lease is with your landlord, not your roommate, so your roommate's actions don't violate your lease.

If your ex-roommate won't pay you the money she owes you, you can sue her in small claims court.

We cannot predict what stories she make up or how your landlord might respond. You need to talk to your landlord.

[lurkertom]

Is the soon-to-be ex-roomate actually on the lease? If so, I would think that she'd have to make arrangements with the landlord. Otherwise,you're name iseems to be the only one on the lease and you are on the hook to make all the payments and arrangements. The STBER still has a key apparently and turned off your utilities to make her point. Find a new roommate, take the STBER to small claims to recover what is owed to you.

[Mr. Knowitall]

She's on the lease, which is why she is insisting that princessj91 "sign her off the lease".

[lurkertom]

It would seem so on the face of it...but they might have had just a casual verbal agreement. That's why I was asking.

[princessj91]

Yes she is on the lease.

She told me she was going to tell the landlord that my girlfriend lives there which is a lie and she said she was doing it to get me evicted so she could just leave and not need me to sign off on her leaving

Oh and also she was supposed to be out yesterday and is still there and not paying rent or anything else