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  1. #1

    Default Can Your Landlord Sue You For Rent Owed By Your Ex-Roommate

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: New York.

    Username is indeed my profession, but this isn't the legal area I work in.

    I recently moved into a different apartment with my girlfriend. In my old apartment, I had been on a lease for a year, but it had long since expired (beginning of 2013) and I had been month-to-month since then with no significant issues. When my girlfriend and I decided to get a place together, I gave my landlord more than 30 days notice (via phone, but I do have saved voicemails that demonstrate this) and provided the necessary information about my roommate so that the landlord and roommate could work out their arrangement. As you know, I had no right to just kick my roommate out (not that I specifically wanted to) or force him out at the same time, so this seemed like the best option. My roommate however had trouble reaching my landlord, etc, and only secured a new roommate for himself shortly before I moved out. With that said, I had given my notice, given all the information to my landlord that I could, and had moved out when I said I would.

    Just recently, my now former landlord has been calling me and saying that he hasn't been able to reach my old roommate. I can only go by the landlord's word (which I don't entirely trust), but he says he has tried calling my roommate multiple times with no response, and has not received rent for the month. While this is unfortunate for both of them, and my old roommate's possibly unwitting new roommate, I don't really see it as my problem.

    However, my landlord is saying that not only may he be forced to evict my old roommate (which might be fair), he would potentially be taking us BOTH to court over this in order to hold us both responsible for my roommate's non-payment of his rent. He says he feels he has no choice, and that I somehow violated the tenant agreement by not leaving the place empty (which, again, was not really my choice as I could not just force my roommate out at the same time), even though I was not on a lease by then.

    Anyone know if my old landlord has any standing here? Do I have any legal responsibilities after giving my proper notice and leaving when I said I would? How can he hold me accountable for what my old roommate is doing, or not doing in this case?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    38,867

    Default Re: Can Your Landlord Sue You For Rent Owed By Your Ex-Roommate

    Regarding the original lease and the subsequent month to month tenancy: who were the tenants listed? Was it just you, just your roommate, or
    the both of you?

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