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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2016
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    2

    Default Can I Sue My Roommate for Unpaid Rent Although I Got Evicted

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Florida

    Brace Yourself, It's going to be a long ride:

    So my former best friend and I signed a lease together in 2012. Her aunt gave me money to cover her share of the security deposit but my friend was responsible for the 2nd month rent. Long story short, she was irresponsible with her money and I could see she would not have her share of half the rent for the 2nd month - Tension arise and we got into a physical altercation. I apologized for my part the next morning and she moved out. She took a restraining order out on me (I'm not sure why because I didn't try to contact her after she left) but did not show up to court so the case was dropped. She later messaged me and told me the order was only so she would have no responsibility in paying rent. I got another roommate for about 2 or 3 months but he ended up leaving to care for his terminally ill mother so I carried the rent on my own until about 3 months before the lease would end - The bills got to be too much and eventually I was evicted from the apartment - I didn't think to go to the eviction hearing the apt put on my door and explain my situation to a judge - I was young and naive and didn't know that a judge may grant me time to pay my rent based off of my situation. As I was collecting my things from the apartment, I told the leasing manager to send me any fees associated with my early departure and I would get them paid - I also provided her with a forwarding address. I never received anything from her and now collections is trying to collect:

    The balance that holds both my name and my former roommate is $3800. I guess she was attempting to get her credit cleared because she got ahold of me to work out paying off the balance - I negotiated with the collections office to pay a smaller debt of $2684.52 in which I would pay $1600 and she would pay $1084.52 all by March. I have the transcripts from the creditor for the agreement and I have the text messages between her and I agreeing to pay the balance and for how much and at what time. Again, I paid my portion in once shot and she advised she could not pay due to car insurance bill - In order to keep the deal with the creditor for the lower amount, I offered to cover her portion and have her reimburse me. I even allowed her to come up with the timeframe and increments of which she paid me back - I paid $842.52 of her $1084.52 and sent her the payment plan to be signed and notarized - After deciding she did no longer wanted to pay the increments she came up with, she decided to she no longer wanted to reimburse me - Since the originally deal with the creditor was to be paid by the end of April and the balance of $200 still remained, the balance has now reverted back to the original $3800 in which she advised she will just pay them directly. She believes since we got into a fight, she is not responsible for the rent she left me stuck with.

    My question is can I sue her for the months that I did pay up to losing the apartment, not the 2-3 when I obtained a roommate? My 2nd question is since I have the text of us agreeing the pay the creditor a certain amount and again had to pay her part, can I sue her for the $842.52 that I paid on her behalf? She now lives in Atlanta which is where she moved after leaving the apartment so I'm sure she would have to return to FL for the court case but I want to make sure I'm going into something with a strong foundation.

    Thanks for any and all help.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    Default Re: Can I Sue My Roommate for Unpaid Rent Although I Got Evicted

    Quote Quoting NicoleG1
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    She later messaged me and told me the order was only so she would have no responsibility in paying rent.
    Florida does not have a law that allows somebody to be released from a lease due to domestic violence.
    Quote Quoting NicoleG1
    ...so I carried the rent on my own until about 3 months before the lease would end...
    Did you look for another roommate? If not, why not?
    Quote Quoting NicoleG1
    ...eventually I was evicted from the apartment....
    Are you telling us that you were the only person identified in the eviction suit? If not, was your original roommate also named to the lawsuit?
    Quote Quoting NicoleG1
    The balance that holds both my name and my former roommate is $3800.
    Is this balance being collected under the lease, or under a money judgment provision from the order of eviction that was issued by the court following the eviction proceedings?
    Quote Quoting NicoleG1
    ....she advised she will just pay them directly. She believes since we got into a fight, she is not responsible for the rent she left me stuck with.
    You have told us that she has agreed to pay the remaining balance, and you have told us that she believes she is not responsible for that payment. Which is it?
    Quote Quoting NicoleG1
    My question is can I sue her for the months that I did pay up to losing the apartment, not the 2-3 when I obtained a roommate? My 2nd question is since I have the text of us agreeing the pay the creditor a certain amount and again had to pay her part, can I sue her for the $842.52 that I paid on her behalf?
    If you believe that you can prove that your former roommate owes you money under the terms of your agreement with her, you may sue to try to recover that money. She may present any number of defenses, including a possible defense (and perhaps counter-claim) based upon your physically assaulting her and prompting her to move out for her own safety, based upon a claim that you did not take sufficient steps to mitigate your damages, and the like, to try to avoid responsibility for part or all of what you claim. Further, the statute of limitations on an oral contract is four years in Florida, and you're talking about events that occurred in 2012 -- so she may have a strong statute of limitations defense to any claim that she owes you rent.

    If you sue her in Florida, given that she presently resides in Arizona, she may default on the lawsuit -- but you would have to domesticate the lawsuit in Arizona in order to try to collect against her in that state, and she could potentially raise a due process argument against the registration of the judgment. Also, at the end of the day, in order to collect money from her she is going to have to either become willing to pay you, or you're going to have to identify and pursue assets or income that are subject to court garnishment or execution.

    At the end of the day, sure, you can sue her -- but how much trouble are you willing to go through at this point to obtain and to try to enforce a judgment against somebody who, by your description, appears to be a deadbeat?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Can I Sue My Roommate for Unpaid Rent Although I Got Evicted

    Did you look for another roommate? If not, why not?
    Yes I got a new roommate within a couple of weeks but he left after about 2-3 months to take care of his ill mother.

    Are you telling us that you were the only person identified in the eviction suit? If not, was your original roommate also named to the lawsuit?
    The eviction notice was to myself and my original roommate- We were both named in the lawsuit because we both signed the lease.

    Is this balance being collected under the lease, or under a money judgment provision from the order of eviction that was issued by the court following the eviction proceedings?
    The judgement was for the eviction only- The money is being paid to a collections agency run by the company that heads the apartment we had.

    You have told us that she has agreed to pay the remaining balance, and you have told us that she believes she is not responsible for that payment. Which is it?
    She does not believe she should be held responsible to pay anything because she left the apartment. She only agreed to pay because the eviction is effecting her credit which common sense would tell her that is because she is partly responsible.

    She lives in Atlanta, GA not Arizona. If I were to win the case, I would submit a judgement to garnish her wages. When we agreed to pay the collections company, she sent me her budget advising how much she gets paid a week and her current bills so I know what she can afford to pay each month.

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