Deadbeat Roommate

My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: california

My question it this... my roommate has fallen into a bit of a money rut. He has taken my portion or the rent and our other roommates portion of the rent and has not paid rent now for two months. He has evaded and neglected any and all attempts of us being reasonable. he is on the lease. when he left he was gone for more than 30 days but less than two months shy of a week. when he returned he came home for less than 24hrs and has now disappeared again taking my portion of the rent and not paying the rent. can i sell his stuff? also mind you he has a dog here that he has neglected and that i have been taken care of the entire time. ::wall bang: what do i do and how can i legally sell his property??? I am on the lease and the other roommate is as well. he has sent fake photos of checks dated 2011.

Quote:

---

can i sell his stuff?

---

Nope.

Are you on the lease? What about your other roommate?

yes we are all on the lease

You need to stop giving your share of the rent to your roommate. Discuss your situation with your landlord IMMEDIATELY, and start paying him directly. You may be able to stave off eviction temporarily, but at some point, your landlord will expect to be paid all of what is owed, and if your roommate skips out, you'll be expected to pay up.

Should this happen, you'll have to sue your roommate in small claims to have a chance at recovering damages.