got sued by ex-roomate for rent

Florida

I'm a 3rd year college student. June 28 last year, I co-signed with my ex-roommate for an apartment for 12 months, receiving the first month rent free.

When I moved in, he had taken the master bedroom and one other bedroom as his "office" in our 3 bedroom apartment without consulting with me, while still expecting me to pay for 1/2 of rent. That night he set thermos to 73 degrees (in summer time florida), and had people over at 1am, making lots of noise.

The next day I moved all my stuff out, and left him and apartment manager with notes saying that I'm moving out, leaving the deposit, and call me to work out the situation.

My ex-roommate called, my parents answered, but under a barrage of threat of court by him, negotiations ended quickly.

He called again, and I answered, telling him that I know someone who wanted to rent an apartment, he replied no thanks, and he's got someone else.

Now more than a year had passed, and the lease expired. Him, not the apartment is taking me to court requesting that I pay $2960 which is 1/2 of 6 month of rent plus transfer fees after he moved to a smoker's apartment mid-lease in the same complex, due to the "financial strain of the situation."

The $2960 + 100 filing fees sound pretty unfair considering the fact that the first month was free and one or two roommates could've been found in matter of days because the place is only a few miles away from a major university.

Now, I've signed no contract with him, only with the apartment, and signed one day after he did, also the contract with the apartment had expired last month. So, what should I do about the situation? Should I try to settle it in pretrial conference, or take it to court? And what are my chances in court? What's the best course for action, and what should I say?

Thanks for any help you can provide, as I'm clueless about cases of this nature.

Needless to say, you did this all wrong and that has now caused you some major problems........

1) "I'm a 3rd year college student. June 28 last year, I co-signed with my ex-roommate for an apartment for 12 months, receiving the first month rent free."
You really don't get the first month 'free'. You get the first month free IF you comply with the terms of the lease, which you didn't do.

2) "When I moved in, he had taken the master bedroom and one other bedroom as his "office" in our 3 bedroom apartment without consulting with me, while still expecting me to pay for 1/2 of rent. That night he set thermos to 73 degrees (in summer time florida), and had people over at 1am, making lots of noise."
Sounds unfair so far.

3) "The next day I moved all my stuff out, and left him and apartment manager with notes saying that I'm moving out, leaving the deposit, and call me to work out the situation."
Wrong way to handle this. Simply, when you signed the lease, you made a legally binding COMMITMENT to the landlord that YOU would be responsible. The problems you had with your roommate are NOT the landlords problems.... nor can they just be waived with your leaving notes.

4) "My ex-roommate called, my parents answered, but under a barrage of threat of court by him, negotiations ended quickly."
Wrong again. This is NOT a matter of 'negotiations'. You have a legal obligation to pay the rent.

5) "He called again, and I answered, telling him that I know someone who wanted to rent an apartment, he replied no thanks, and he's got someone else."
Here is a little light at the end of the tunnel. Your 'ex' has an obligation to mitigate his damages. This means that he must help to limit or prevent his damages. This would be done by his getting a 'replacement' renter. When you first heard that he had a replacement, you should have gotten a signed document from the 'ex' releasing you from any further liability and then tried to resolve the rental obligation issue with the landlord. So, the question now becomes..... how will you prove his statement that he got a replacement??? This still doesn't resolve your obligation to the landlord, but it could help to redirect the liability.

6) "Now more than a year had passed, and the lease expired. Him, not the apartment is taking me to court requesting that I pay $2960 which is 1/2 of 6 month of rent plus transfer fees after he moved to a smoker's apartment mid-lease in the same complex, due to the "financial strain of the situation."
Simply, you are not liable for the transfer fees... and certainly not to the landlord. They are solely his. However, you still have an obligation for the rent that you promised to pay when you signed the lease agreement. This may come down to you having to pay the part you promised..... then pursuing legal action against your 'ex' for his failure to pay (if he had found a replacement) or his failure to mitigate his damages.

7) "The $2960 + 100 filing fees sound pretty unfair considering the fact that the first month was free and one or two roommates could've been found in matter of days because the place is only a few miles away from a major university."
If a roommate were that easy to find, why didn't you find one or two?? I know, you claim you did, but then you didn't get a release from your liability, nor did you document the fact that he claimed to have already found one. This pretty much leaves YOU in the middle.

8) "Now, I've signed no contract with him, only with the apartment, and signed one day after he did, also the contract with the apartment had expired last month."
This statement is not relevant. Your post is clear that the landlord is pursuing you, not the 'ex'. And who signed first also has no relevance. Finally, the fact that the lease tenancy had expired is moot.

9) "So, what should I do about the situation?"
What options do you have?? At this point, the apartment is demanding payment. If you pay it, the problem goes away. If you don't, they could take legal action against you.

10) "Should I try to settle it in pretrial conference, or take it to court?"
Any attempts to negotiate would certainly have potential; however, your question of 'take it to court' assumes that you would be filing. Against who?? For what??

11) "And what are my chances in court?"
Chances against who? If you are sued by the apartment complex, I would say your chance of 'winning' is slim or none. If you are talking about suing the 'ex' for your damages, the chances are directly related to the proof that you can offer and your ability to present it in a convincing manner.

12) "What's the best course for action, and what should I say?"
Overly vague and cannot be answered.

Okay let me try to clearify this... The apartment is not suing me for the money, as far as they are concerned the lease terms was never broken, as he did pay for all of the rent after I moved out, by sharing the apartment and the rent with someone else.

His mid-lease move was an option to relocate to a different unit with in the same complex, and does not violate the lease terms.

I apologize. Your post clearly said "Him, not the apartment is taking me to court..." and I overlooked it (so many of the forum posts are about the apartment taking action, not former roommates.

However, the principal remains the same.... the ex roommate must take steps to mitigate his damages due to your breach. Your chance of defending yourself will depend largely on whether you can prove that the plaintiff refused your offered tenant and whether the plaintiff took steps to limit their damages. Your post says that he DID manage to find a paying roommate. I would suggest that you take efforts to try to confirm that he in fact had a 'payer'. If successful, then you should have little to be concerned about.

Thanks for the info Halket...

You are right about the matter. But I don't know what could I do to get solid confirmation that he indeed had another roommate. I doubt that his roommate would provide anything useful to me.

The only two things I could think of is:

A - get an estimate from the apartment manager reguarding the average time in which their vanacy is filled. That'll at least prove that there was adquate demand for these apartments.

B - go talk to people living in units next to his or the apartment super, and get a signed statement saying that he did not live at the place alone.

Any other ideas reguarding the matter?