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Roommate is Being Too Picky About Replacements

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  • 05-03-2016, 04:23 PM
    legalhelpaccount703
    Roommate is Being Too Picky About Replacements
    My question involves former roommate law in the State of Virginia

    I've been trying to help my former roommate find a roommate to replace my spot in the apartment. It has been 61 days now since my first set of ads online and facebook post. I moved away to CA and still paid rent but now I have to afford my own rent where I live in CA. He has a lease that is another year longer since he signed for 2 years. I came on after he signed for 2 years but was added to the lease and he's not saying I'm liable for payment until the lease ends. He's also being picky about who's going to potentially move with him. I cannot vet anyone that's going to live with him since this is in Arlington, VA and he's claiming I'm not putting in the effort to help him find someone and that he's helping me by adjusting his weekends to let people come by the place and visit. At this point, I'm just ticked off and offered to break the lease and pay the rent for up to two months, which is stipulated in our lease. However, he's trying to say I'll be liable for all lease break fees instead of half since we're both on it.

    He's also trying to charge me for his cable bill he uses which is in his name and he has every package that I never asked for, as well as other utilities. Technically he doesn't pay 'half the rent', he pays his cable and utilities in his name and deducts whatever the total amount of his utilities from the rent.

    What is my angle here now?
  • 05-04-2016, 07:01 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Roommate is Being Too Picky About Replacements
    Quote:

    Quoting legalhelpaccount703
    I came on after he signed for 2 years but was added to the lease and he's not saying I'm liable for payment until the lease ends.

    So what you're stating is that you agreed to join the lease as a tenant for the full remaining balance of its two-year term.
    Quote:

    Quoting legalhelpaccount703
    He's also being picky about who's going to potentially move with him. I cannot vet anyone that's going to live with him since this is in Arlington, VA and he's claiming I'm not putting in the effort to help him find someone and that he's helping me by adjusting his weekends to let people come by the place and visit.

    What effort, if any, is he making to find a replacement roommate?

    Is the landlord in the loop -- that is, does the landlord know that you're moving out and seeking to replace yourself as a tenant?
    Quote:

    Quoting legalhelpaccount703
    At this point, I'm just ticked off and offered to break the lease and pay the rent for up to two months, which is stipulated in our lease.

    Does the lease permit you to do that unilaterally, or must that provision be triggered by a joint request of both you and your roommate?
    Quote:

    Quoting legalhelpaccount703
    However, he's trying to say I'll be liable for all lease break fees instead of half since we're both on it.

    If the lease break fee is on top of the rent payment, he has a point.
    Quote:

    Quoting legalhelpaccount703
    He's also trying to charge me for his cable bill he uses which is in his name and he has every package that I never asked for, as well as other utilities. Technically he doesn't pay 'half the rent', he pays his cable and utilities in his name and deducts whatever the total amount of his utilities from the rent.

    I can't speak to your agreement with your roommate about how you have decided to split rent and utilities in the past, or whether he has a plausible argument for you to contribute to utilities during the period in which the search for a replacement roommate continues.

    If you can unilaterally end the lease, despite the cost, that is an option to consider -- it gives you a clear end date.

    You can also try indicating to your roommate that he has a duty to mitigate his damages by replacing you and, as the lease could have been terminated upon two months notice with your being responsible for half of each monthly rent payment, you will not be contributing to rent after you hit the four month mark. You should have a better sense of how he would respond to that than anybody here.

    If your roommate stops paying the rent, as long as you remain a named tenant on the lease, you will be named to an eviction action brought by the landlord. An eviction will haunt your credit record, and potentially result in a money judgment against you.
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