Hi:
I need to solve some financial matters with my roommate, but I am worried she might take legal action as a result of the way I am going about it.
I have only lived with her for 2 months, and because of the hostile living environment that she has caused I decided to give her 2 weeks notice and move out early; however, I did find the replacement. Her name (current roommate) is on the lease and mine is not. Upon moving in I agreed, in writing, to pay part of an enormous Broker’s Fee, my share would be $1000, of which I have paid $500. Because she is the direct cause of me moving out I believe I deserve that money back—though I agreed in writing to pay her a Broker’s Fee. As a result, I have decided to pro-rate the amount according to the 2 months I have lived there and subtract the rest from the last month’s rent.
While I would normally elect to pay the rental company for the rent, my roommate lacked to inform me that they only accept the 1st 3rd party check and subsequent checks will be returned. The company was really bad about cashing my 1st check within a reasonable amount of time, so I did not contact them until almost 3 weeks had passed about my December check that had not been cashed. Because of their 3rd party check rule, they suggested that I write the check to my roommate and then she will be able to add it to her January rent.
My roommate is such a horrible person and so irresponsible that I know she will never give me the Broker’s Fee back. I really don’t want to be screwed over, so I have worked out all of our bill issues and added or subtracted from the December rent check accordingly so I will never have to have contact with her again. I have very fairly split the bills and even given $50 for painting a wall in the bedroom. I have written a letter outlining all of the additions and subtractions but the final amount is a little over half of the rent and I am afraid she will have a very strong reaction to this. Though I believe I am doing the right thing, I am worried about her destroying my belongings for the next 24 hours that I will be here and I am also worried that she will possibly take legal action against me. Can she do this?
Thank you!!!
**I live in New York City

