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Roommate Moved Out, Will Continue to Pay Rent but Not Utilities

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  • 04-30-2007, 08:19 PM
    machine
    Roommate Moved Out, Will Continue to Pay Rent but Not Utilities
    In Palatine Illinois, three people all signed on a 2 year house lease. The three people (not the landlord) are responsible for their own utility bills. All three parties verbally agreed to splitting the rent & utility bills (1/3 each) equally which we have been doing for the past 1 ˝ years. Now one of the three leasees has decided to move in with his girlfriend and says he will continue to pay rent but refuses to pay utilities because he is not living here and doesn’t use them.
    Do we have a good winning case if we took him to small claims court to sue for the prorated (gas, water, electic, gabage) utility bills for the remaining 6 months of the lease.
  • 05-01-2007, 08:43 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Roommate moved out, will continue to pay rent but not utilities.
    I doubt it, but the only way to know for sure is to try.
  • 05-01-2007, 01:16 PM
    machine
    Re: Roommate moved out, will continue to pay rent but not utilities.
    Thanks for the reponse Mr. Knowitall, but there is not much information in it.Why would you doubt winning in court.
    It would seem that 1/3 the house lease would include 1/3 the utility responsiblity since a house without utilities is not livable.
  • 05-01-2007, 05:11 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Roommate moved out, will continue to pay rent but not utilities.
    Because the split is not required under the lease, and the agreement could easily be construed as an even split between occupants, as opposed to a former occupant. Obviously he's no longer using the utilities.
  • 05-01-2007, 05:31 PM
    machine
    Re: Roommate Moved Out, Will Continue to Pay Rent but Not Utilities
    Technically, he is still using the utilities because he still has furnishings here & he will not give up his key & wants access rights. So even though he pays the lease rent, he is not paying for utilities for the 1/3 common area of the house he is renting.
    Also
    The utrilities that he is not using obviously will not be on the utility bills and his 1/3 payment will be for a lesser bills.
  • 05-01-2007, 08:41 PM
    US Citizen
    Re: Roommate Moved Out, Will Continue to Pay Rent but Not Utilities
    Quote:

    Quoting machine
    View Post
    Technically, he is still using the utilities because he still has furnishings here & he will not give up his key & wants access rights. So even though he pays the lease rent, he is not paying for utilities for the 1/3 common area of the house he is renting.
    Also
    The utrilities that he is not using obviously will not be on the utility bills and his 1/3 payment will be for a lesser bills.

    What you say makes sense, but your agreement, which is probably legal and binding, contemplated that the roommate would be living there. Where the heating and cooling, and electricity in the common areas is pretty much constant or "fixed", no matter how many people live there, and there is the "variable" or personal use component, water and hot water and the variable part of the electric bill, apartment lighting, electric appliances, gas/electric for stove, etc. In a lease where utilities are supplied, the landlord does not have to supply an unlimited amount, only a "reasonable" amount. In some courts you may prevail under a strict interpretation of contract law, while others would look at the equity of splitting the utilities equally when the actual usage is very unequal or disparate.

    My suggestion is to establish or agree upon a base or "fixed" amount of utilities that are used monthly, and divide that equally, and divide the remainder among the remaining roommates.
  • 05-01-2007, 11:16 PM
    machine
    Re: Roommate Moved Out, Will Continue to Pay Rent but Not Utilities
    Thanks for the input US Citizen. Believe it or not, before reading your post my "to do" list for tomorrow had contact gas, electric, water/garbage service providers. I will ask what the base rate per month is if the service is not used. Example would be turn off the gas and the meter reading would be the same today as it would be a month from now. I know we would still get a base bill.
    Your sugestion is fair, reasonable and a mature way to handle the situation.
    As far as our roomate defector, he snuck out without warning or discussion and left us other two holding the bag. I will propose this though.

    I will post again with updates.
  • 05-02-2007, 09:04 AM
    US Citizen
    Re: Roommate Moved Out, Will Continue to Pay Rent but Not Utilities
    The utilities will tell you that you only pay for what you use.

    I know that determining the "fixed" and "variable" portions of the utilities can be done, but I don't recall how to do it and it probably isn't something that could be easily explained here. If we assume that the fixed and variable portions of the utilities are equal, then an equal share (1/6) of the fixed utilites would be fair. Start with a sixth and adjust it until you feel the amount is fair. Keep in mind that the current roommates shouldn't be paying anymore than they were before. This appraoch is very theoretical.

    So here's a practical approach to your problem based on the same theory. Average all the previous month's utilities and take 2/3 of it to determine the average use by the remaining roommates. Subtract the current month's utilities by the previous amount. The difference belongs to the roommate that moved out and should average out over time, assuming constant utility rates, ceterus parabus in economics terms.
  • 05-04-2007, 01:15 AM
    machine
    Re: Roommate Moved Out, Will Continue to Pay Rent but Not Utilities
    Here is what I have found out so far:
    1) We have been paying an average $43.79 for 1 month of garbage/water/sewage bill for the city.
    2) We have been paying an average $162.93 per/mth for 1 month of gas.
    3) We have been paying an average $66 per/month for 1 month of electric.
    4) If we turned off the gas, we would still get a basic monthly gas bill of $8.85 plus taxes.
    5) If we turned off the electric we would still get a basic monthly bill of $9.47 plus taxes.
    6) If we turned off the water, we would still get a basic monthly bill of $22.9 per month. This would break down as follows:
    $3.30 = basic
    $5.50 = sewer service
    $7.50 = flood control
    $6.60 = sewer separation surcharge
    or totaled, this would be $22.9 total per month
    So……
    Our monthly utilities average is (43.79 + 162.93 + 66) $272.72 total or ( 1/3) $90.90 each.
    If we turned off the gas water & electric we would still have a basic montly utility cost of (8.85 + 9.47 + 22.9) $41.22 per month or ( 1/3 ) $13.74 each.
    So…..
    Somewhere between the $13.74 basic monthly and the $90.90 current average usage is what our defecting roommate should be paying per month.
    I have not yet proposed this to our defector but will shortly and then post again.
    Regarding my original post, I believe strongly that we do have a strong court case to collect some of this money should it come down to this.
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