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.Quoting legalhelpaccount703
What effort, if any, is he making to find a replacement roommate?Quoting legalhelpaccount703
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?
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?Quoting legalhelpaccount703
If the lease break fee is on top of the rent payment, he has a point.Quoting legalhelpaccount703
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.Quoting legalhelpaccount703
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.

