Bad Roomate

[Taxious]

I'm planning on moving into a new apartment complex with a friend of mine in a couple weeks. After running our history, credit reports and references, the landlord had this to say:

The person that you are moving in with has been to court over breaking a lease a couple times. However, his current land lord said that he has been paying rent on time (for the last 2 years). I just wanted you to know before you both sign the lease that he's had some negative activity on his renting record, and that there have been people trying to collect money from him.

If we both sign this upcoming lease, how much trouble would I get into if he decides to skip out on rent or break the lease? I'm hoping that because we both signed the contract, that I wouldn't get penalized for him fucking up again?

[Embar Angylwrath]

If you're both on the lease, you're both fully responsible for making the lease payments. If he stops making them, it will be up to you make the full lease amount. If you don't both your credit scores will get dinged. In this day and age, your credit is phenomenally important. I wouldn't risk it on that guy, friend or not. Find someone else to move in with, and ask to see their credit report (and show them yours)

[Ariannda Kusanagi]

While Embar IS correct and I generally value his opinion I am going to disagree. Since you KNOW about the activity on his credit report (now) you KNOW that there's a chance that this may happen, and should you choose to continue anyway then just know it MAY happen. That being said however it's no different then you and a roommate having a falling out and him or her deciding to leave, while they can probably be taken off the lease (or you can have them removed) then it's still your responsibility to pay the entire balance. It won't fuck you per se, but you ARE responsible.

I THINK your question is something like "If he skips out and i continue to make payments, will i be fucked cause he left" and if thats the case then the answer is no, not as long as you make the payments. If your question is "If he runs out, and i can't make the payments, then will i be fucked?" then the answer is yes. There may be a solution where YOU can sign the lease only, and have him listed as a resident anyway, my husband and i actually did this, one of us would sign the lease and list the other as a resident of the household, but the other wasn't on the lease. That may be an option for you as well, and may give you more peace of mind if thats possible, that way it's your sole responsibility anyway.

You won't be penalized for his actions as long as you continue to uphold your end of the deal. Also check with the landlord to see what the procedure is for removing someone FROM the lease in such a situation. Some landlords will offer to remove the other person from the lease if they move out, some won't let you change the lease until it's up for renewal, some won't let you change it regardless until you're gone ( I can imagine there have been cases where someone has removed someone else from a lease, and then kicked them out, or what have you).

Also as a warning i discovered with boyfriend that just because his name is no where on the lease, his license never listed my house as his address, he had no mail come here ever, he lived here for more then 30 days, which made him a resident . Legally i had to evict him, however since he didn't raise a fuss about it it wasn't an issue, but keep that in mind as well, and if it were me i may be inclined to fight for my place to live should you all get into a snit and decide to get shitty with each other, yaknowwhatimean ?

[Ddrak]

You actually agreed with Embar there, but did a pretty good job of expanding on the options available. Basically though, if your friend bails then you're up for the entire amount so just be prepared for that situation if it happens.

Dd

[Ariannda Kusanagi]

Ok, I agree with Embar !

[Taxious]

Ah alright, thanks. I was worried that he could fuck me over, but it sounds like as long as I can make the rent payments by myself I'll be fine.

[Harlowe]

If you can cover the whole thing, sure, you'll be fine. There is nothing for them to report against you if the payments are made in full.

[Taxious]

If you can cover the whole thing, sure, you'll be fine. There is nothing for them to report against you if the payments are made in full.

What is the point of co-signing a lease then? It sounds pretty exclusive either way...

[Embar Angylwrath]

There are other parts of the lease that don't pertain to the lease payments. Typical stuff is responisbility for damage to the residence, use of the residence, term of the lease, rights and obligations of all parties to the lease, pet policy, etc. If any you or your friend violate any portion of that lease, there may be fines, or you may be evicted. That said, landlords don't typically evict tenants for violations of the lease if the tenant pays the fine and corrects the violation.

[Kulaf]

If you can cover the whole thing, sure, you'll be fine. There is nothing for them to report against you if the payments are made in full.

What is the point of co-signing a lease then? It sounds pretty exclusive either way...

The lease is there to cover the landlord.....not you. Sure it spells out things both of you are responsible for.....but the landlord wants tenents who have a vested interest in the unit they are going to rent. People are less likely to shit on things they will have to pay for.

[Klast Brell]

I had a room mate flake out on me once. I was mailing in my half of the rent on time. For the last month or 2 of the lease he did not pay his half, and didn't tell me about it. The guy disappeared off the face of the planet and the landlord could not find him. So they claimed my entire damage deposit and sent me a bill for the remaining money he owed them.

[Select]

Tax, have you discussed this with the roommate yet? Told him you're aware of his past and want to lay down some ground rules?

[Taxious]

Tax, have you discussed this with the roommate yet? Told him you're aware of his past and want to lay down some ground rules?

Actually, he was upfront about his history before I talked to the new land lord. I was just curious about my legal/financial liabilities in this situation.

The lease is there to cover the landlord.....not you. Sure it spells out things both of you are responsible for.....but the landlord wants tenents who have a vested interest in the unit they are going to rent. People are less likely to shit on things they will have to pay for.

That makes sense, I was thinking of it backwards.

[Select]

People are less likely to shit on things they will have to pay for.

After college, they're less likely As an RA in a few couple hundred people dorms and now a normal person off-campus, in a building with other students, it's been my experience that most students (or people my age, I should say) don't care what they have to pay for until they're done with school... or they suddenly care when they get the bill. Tax is right to be wary. If his roommate was up front and has been responsible for two years, I'd have some faith in the guy. Maybe he finally grew up?

[Ddrak]

Tax, you may be better off taking the lease yourself and subletting to your friend. That way you're protected by the subletting agreement.

Dd

[Embar Angylwrath]

Tax, you may be better off taking the lease yourself and subletting to your friend. That way you're protected by the subletting agreement.

Dd

Except that most lease agreements in the US require explicit agreement from the landlord for a sublet. In fact, most are expressly prohibited.

[Ddrak]

Tax, you may be better off taking the lease yourself and subletting to your friend. That way you're protected by the subletting agreement.

Dd

Except that most lease agreements in the US require explicit agreement from the landlord for a sublet. In fact, most are expressly prohibited.

Same here in Oz, but if the landlord is talking to you directly then it may be possible to arrange something of that nature.

Dd

[Taxious]

Tax, you may be better off taking the lease yourself and subletting to your friend. That way you're protected by the subletting agreement.

I think I'm just going to see how things pan out. Once I start working full time (less than a month away) I'll be able to make the full rent payments if need be. As long as I can't get in some type of legal trouble for his mistakes, I'm not worried.