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What to Do if Your Roommate Stops Contributing to Utilities

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  • 04-27-2016, 11:56 AM
    MustangFX
    What to Do if Your Roommate Stops Contributing to Utilities
    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Wisconsin.

    I've been living in a full 4-bedroom unit in the lower level of a house since September 2015(about 8 months). The electric and internet bills are in my name. Each roommate has their own lease with the landlord, so we are not tied together on that. We have a verbal agreement to pay equal parts of the electric and internet bills.

    Roommates 1 and 2, whom I've never had an issue about payment with, always pay me on or before the day that I set as the deadline. They pay by check, so I have proof of payment for them.

    Roommate 3 always pays cash. This bothered me at first, but he made it pretty clear he wasn't going to bother getting checks from his bank, so I went with it. Unfortunately, after the second month, this third roommate started paying me late. Normally it is only a couple of days, a week maximum. At the week-late mark, I send roommate 3 a message that I'm going to change the WiFi password until he pays me. This got him to pay pretty quickly the first two times.

    This time, though, I changed the WiFi password after a week of no payment, and two weeks later he still hasn't paid me. I sent him a message asking when he was going to pay me. No response. Tried again. No response. Finally, after asking him if I needed to get serious about it, he says he'll pay it. Supposedly he's paying me tomorrow. He went on some rant about my girlfriend's car taking up space in our (limited) off street parking are so he keeps getting parking tickets. My girlfriend doesn't have a car. I identified each of the cars that were parked back there(that I saw), and they all belong to people that live in our house. That was today.

    My question is: What can I do to get him to pay if he doesn't pay tomorrow? Is small-claims court an option? The bill for last month was $26.43 per person which includes Electric and Internet. I changed the password on the internet so I figure I can't charge him for the time that he didn't have access to it. If I only charge him for electric he'll owe only $15.88.

    Another question: Since the end of the lease is on May 22nd, that means I'll be getting an electric bill for May after everyone is moved out. Roommate 2 has already agreed to pay me an approximation of her share of the final electric bill in advance. I plan on asking Roommate 1 to do it as well. I'm afraid that roommate 3 is going to try and worm his way out of it. Can I sue on the basis that I have zero trust in roommate 3's intent to pay? He has been constantly late on his payments and all but flat-out refused to pay for this last month.

    EDIT: I should clarify: I was told by roommate 2 that roommate 3 said he was going to move out of the state after this lease is up. That's going to make it really difficult to contact him and get him to pay. That's why I'm wondering if I can sue for the future payment.
    Thank you for reading all of this!
  • 04-27-2016, 01:08 PM
    adjusterjack
    Re: What to Do if Your Roommate Stops Contributing to Utilities
    Sorry, you can't sue the roommate until he actually doesn't pay and since you aren't his landlord you can't evict him for non-pay.

    My guess is that you are about to get screwed out of, what, $50, if he doesn't pay the current and final amount and good luck chasing a deadbeat to another state for a lawsuit.

    In the future, I suggest, you not get into these deals with roommates.
  • 04-27-2016, 01:13 PM
    comment/ator
    Re: What to Do if Your Roommate Stops Contributing to Utilities
    From the sound of your conversations with him, he was able to bully and distract you with some unrelated issue about where your girlfriend is parking. Ignore that. He's got the power over you because you don't want to simply confront, ask for the money and insist he pay you. In simple English sentences, say, "I want my money, I want it now. I want to be paid for the utilities this month." Keep repeating this. He may bluster, he may dodge. You be firm. What's he gonna do, hit you? If he does, call the police and press charges against him.
  • 04-27-2016, 02:04 PM
    Pringle
    Re: What to Do if Your Roommate Stops Contributing to Utilities
    Quote:

    Quoting comment/ator
    View Post
    From the sound of your conversations with him, he was able to bully and distract you with some unrelated issue about where your girlfriend is parking. Ignore that. He's got the power over you because you don't want to simply confront, ask for the money and insist he pay you. In simple English sentences, say, "I want my money, I want it now. I want to be paid for the utilities this month." Keep repeating this. He may bluster, he may dodge. You be firm. What's he gonna do, hit you? If he does, call the police and press charges against him.

    The roommate has absolutely no incentive to pay at this point. OP lost all leverage.
  • 05-02-2016, 01:30 PM
    MustangFX
    Re: What to Do if Your Roommate Stops Contributing to Utilities
    Quote:

    Quoting adjusterjack
    View Post
    Sorry, you can't sue the roommate until he actually doesn't pay and since you aren't his landlord you can't evict him for non-pay.

    My guess is that you are about to get screwed out of, what, $50, if he doesn't pay the current and final amount and good luck chasing a deadbeat to another state for a lawsuit.

    In the future, I suggest, you not get into these deals with roommates.

    That's what I figured. Unfortunately I didn't have a choice in the matter, the landlord has control over who lives in the house since they do separate leases with each tenant. I thought about it and, worst case, I'm out the final bill(his portion) and I never have to see that jackwagon again. I'm okay with that deal at this point.

    Quote:

    Quoting comment/ator
    View Post
    From the sound of your conversations with him, he was able to bully and distract you with some unrelated issue about where your girlfriend is parking. Ignore that. He's got the power over you because you don't want to simply confront, ask for the money and insist he pay you. In simple English sentences, say, "I want my money, I want it now. I want to be paid for the utilities this month." Keep repeating this. He may bluster, he may dodge. You be firm. What's he gonna do, hit you? If he does, call the police and press charges against him.

    Actually, he had no real power over me because, as I stated in the original post, my girlfriend doesn't have a car. Whoever was parking in our spots is the one in trouble, though I suspect it was a one-time thing because I only ever see the same 3 vehicles. I did confront him, as directly as I could over text(he is home rarely), and he agreed to pay. He DID pay by the way, so we're good for this month. I've been doing just what you said in previous months, I bugged him repeatedly until he payed, and it had been working until this month. Either way, its been resolved. I was in a bit of a rage when I originally made this thread, but I'm over the fact that he might not pay the final bill, just because I won't have to deal with him again. This is good advice though, it works.

    Quote:

    Quoting Pringle
    View Post
    The roommate has absolutely no incentive to pay at this point. OP lost all leverage.

    Actually, I have control over his use of the internet in the house, which I think ended up getting him to pay. All is not lost. What I don't have control over, unfortunately, is his use of the electricity.

    Pringle, I would suggest reading my entire original post before you go quoting other people's comments. I did, and will continue to, have the power of internet over him. How much leverage that is worth can vary, but I used it this time and several times in the past and it worked. From your comment history, you seem to like putting things bluntly, and you are very dismissive and condescending in your posts. The point of forums like this is to help people. Making them feel like crap for doing something that YOU perceive is stupid and/or common sense is a good way to drive people away.

    ANYWAYS: I think what helped in getting him to pay was that I tried to be his friend, not his enemy, when he brought up the issues about parking. I asked what the situation was/why he was angry, and offered possible solutions. I think that improved our terrible relationship slightly. Anyways, he payed what he owed me, I changed the WiFi password back, everything is back to normal. Like I said above, I was in a bit of a rage when I made this thread, I'm thinking more clearly now and I can handle the situation. Thanks for your advice adjusterjack and comment/ator. This thread can be closed.
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