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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    4

    Default Roommates Suing Over Utility Bills I Have Not Incurred

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

    I moved out of my apartment before the end of my lease term, but I am still paying rent since I could not find someone else to take over my lease. It has been more than three months since I moved out, and my roommates are suing me for not paying my share of the utility bills that have been incurred after I moved out. We have two utility accounts, and neither are in my name.
    I'm curious: on what grounds are they suing me, since I no longer live in the apartment (but I'm still paying rent), and have definitely not been running up the bills there. They claim that we all agreed to split the bills equally, and it is unfair for them to share the bills since they are just as high (actually, higher!) as before (they mentioned that my room is still getting centrally heated/air-conditioned). However, the lease has nothing to do with utilities (I've read over the lease AND confirmed with the landlord), we never signed anything that said we were going to split the utilities no matter what, AND I don't remember any explicit verbal contract either (since there were four of us in the apartment, we split the bills four ways).
    Since they are taking me to court over this, why do they feel that it is their right to collect this sum of money from me?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Toledo, OH
    Posts
    16,307

    Default Re: Roommates Suing Over Utility Bills I Have Not Incurred

    why do they feel that it is their right to collect this sum of money from me?
    Since we're not your roommates, we can't really answer that.

    They are perhaps operating under the mistaken assumption that you're legally required to continue to pay utilities because you must do so with the rent.

    Generally, the courts dismiss these cases, on the grounds that the utilities are the responsibility of the people actually using them (and the people in whose name the service is established).

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