Domestic Violence/ Housing Lease Issue

[nicksthenext23]

Colorado

One of my roommates attempted to assault me in ways that include domestic violence. He was provoking me to hit him (literally saying 'hit me u pussy'), was in my face with his spit getting on me, and threatening to '**** me up". He lunged toward me to attack me when i was on the couch and not looking his way but luckily my other friend who was there stopped him. the whole time i was saying that i did not what to fight and was trying to calm him down.
i can explain the incident in detail if you need- but basically he owed money and i asked him in good manner about it (he never pays me when he says he does) and he tried to intimidate me and proceeded to harass me. IN MY OWN HOME. I DIDNT WANT ANY TROUBLE. a couple of hours later i went to his room to try to talk and he tells me "no, YOU cross to many lines." 'ARE YOU KIDDING ME' is what i thought.
so i left the house the next day, packed my things and was out. the rent wasnt due for another week but i still paid it any way. i told them i would pay next month rent as well, offered to find a new roommate, and told the landlord about it immediately.
So its been almost 2 weeks since ive been out. he hasnt apologized, nor had he payed me any money whatsoever (although at this point im not worried about either of these things). now my roommate is telling me that he doesn't want 'some stranger' to replace me but yet he refuses to look for a new roommate. i dont want to have to pay for not living there. but if i go back i know something bad is gunna happen, im serious. i dont/cant live in that type of environment w/o doing something i regret. i'm not stupid enough to put myself in that position. please i need help, what do i do? i can't forgive him for what he did to me, he disrespected me to an intolerable degree. i'm trying to have foresight here and be proactive. i didnt want to have to call the police for domestic violence. i have a place to stay now and i'm fine . the only things is that my name is on the lease over there and i dont want this to escalate to a legal issue where im held responsible. i cant live there. i need legal advice.

just talking about it gets me rattle up , so i left somethin out lettme know. thanks for reading, please help if u can.
-NIC

 

[Banned_Princess]

do you have a restraining order against this person now? was he arrested or ticketed? did you file a complaint with the police???

no? you have to find someone to take your place, or have EVERYONE agree to remove you from the lease. until that time, you owe your portion of the lease until the lease ends or one of the two above solutions. or until you get a restraining order.

 

[nicksthenext23]

Re:

thank you for replying!

but no i do not have a restraining order, he is on probation and i was trying to avoid that rout but i guess i cant. how long do i have to get a restraining order, like is there a certain amount of time before i cant file one.?


but what if i find someone to replace me and they say they dont want to live with them? does that even matter?

 

[Banned_Princess]

thank you for replying!

but no i do not have a restraining order, he is on probation and i was trying to avoid that rout but i guess i cant. how long do i have to get a restraining order, like is there a certain amount of time before i cant file one.?


but what if i find someone to replace me and they say they dont want to live with them? does that even matter?

ok, well at this point it may be too late to get a restraining order, go to your local police station and ask to make a complaint. if they can they will investigate, but it goes much easier if you just call 911 at the time, after that it kinda turnes into he said she said.

Second of all, who is on this lease? the three of you, or just you?

Third of all, what have you done to try to replace yourself as a roomate?

 

[nicksthenext23]

oh , ok ya i know what you mean.

there are 4 of us on the lease. it includes me, the one who attempted to assault me, his girlfriend, and his girlfriends sister. my room would be empty.

i posted the room on craigslist and am sure to get replies. if not i could prolly find sum one. i also gave them (my roomates) a 5 week notice but they're like "we dont wanna find a new roommate" just to be difficult, and refuse to look even though i know they could find someone easy.

 

[Banned_Princess]

oh , ok ya i know what you mean.

there are 4 of us on the lease. it includes me, the one who attempted to assault me, his girlfriend, and his girlfriends sister. my room would be empty.

i posted the room on craigslist and am sure to get replies. if not i could prolly find sum one. i also gave them (my roomates) a 5 week notice but they're like "we dont wanna find a new roommate" just to be difficult, and refuse to look even though i know they could find someone easy.

get that in writing, then stop paying the rent, and tell them to sue you.

keep everything in writing from now on. like paper and pen, or email.

or you could pay one more month then stop. keep documenting your effort to replace yourself, and keep communication between you guys IN WRITING. (oh so important) then tell them to sue you.

 

[nicksthenext23]

Re:

ok i have texts to my roommates that i notified them. in fact i have the whole conversation. do those count.? and if i mailed (normal mail) the landlord -what should i say and would that count as evidence as well?

 

[Banned_Princess]

ok i have texts to my roommates that i notified them. in fact i have the whole conversation. do those count.? and if i mailed (normal mail) the landlord -what should i say and would that count as evidence as well?

Yes. tomorow go mail a certified letter to the landlord telling him you left for your safety, that you have tried working with the other roomate to find a replacement, but they told you they dont want to find another roomate. print out the whole convo from the texts and send that to the ll as well. yes that would be evidence.

keep your searches for another roomate and your effort to fill the room on paper (print the adds, log the replys, and try to get a reason for the denial) and hope for the best.

good luck. come back if you do get sued.

If it were me, and I could print out the roomate saying they wont replace me, then i would stop paying, send the ll the certified letter, then go on with my life until they try to sue me.

 

[nicksthenext23]

okay i will defintely do that 2moro. and i DEFINITELY will come back here if they try to sue me, dont you worry lol. thanks a ton!

so from my understanding the worse case scenario for me is: they eventually get evicted and dont try to sue me and so i have to pay one fourth of the rent until the landord finds a replacement tenant? is that accurate ..?

 

[Banned_Princess]

okay i will defintely do that 2moro. and i DEFINITELY will come back here if they try to sue me, dont you worry lol. thanks a ton!

so from my understanding the worse case scenario for me is: they eventually get evicted and dont try to sue me and so i have to pay one fourth of the rent until the landord finds a replacement tenant? is that accurate ..?

worst case senerio(s) is they finish out the lease, then sue you for the portion of the rent that was yours. but then they have to show they made a serious effort to re rent the place.

if they are evicted through the court the case will name you, and you all will have a jugement for the full amount of past due rent owed, so make sure you stay in contact and in good terms with the LL so he will 1, take your name off the lease at the end of the period, and 2 leaves you out of any of the preceedings... or at least tells you about any preceedings so that you can be there to defend yourself from the judgement.

 

[stealth2]

Or, the Landlord could sue all four of you for the full rent owed. And if they don't pay, you will be on the hook.

It's a little hard to claim that you left out of fear for your safety when you didn't even bother calling the cops.