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Irresponsible Roommate

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kik1999

Member
What is the name of your state? Ohio

In March of 2003, I moved into a townhome with my daughter. A friend of mine who was (at the time) genuinely trying to get her life together approached me and asked if we could make an arrangement where she moved in, split the rent, utilities, etc. and it seemed like a good arrangement for both of us. Her work schedule and mine conflicted, so we wouldn't be at the house at the same time, so it was almost like not having her there at all. She lost her job and it went downhill from there. The last 3-4 months prior to my lease expiring were awful. Needless to say, I was covering her half of the bills to save my credit, as they were in my name. Lease was up in April of 2004 and we went our separate ways. She knows that she owes me money. She has admitted to owing me money. The phone bill alone was $1800 due to her calling her b.f. in FL. Grand total of what she owes me is around $3000 for her portion of unpaid rent and utilities.

On and off over the two years, I have gotten more sob stories from her than I can count on why she can't pay me (not even $5 towards the balance), and basically I've come to the conclusion that the only way to hold her accountable is to take her to small claims court. She is now claiming that she wants to add her half of what she owes me on her bankruptcy (which I know is impossible, as the bills were in my name, but she insists that her lawyer states it is possible) and that she should only be responsible for 1/3, as my daughter lived there too...my daughter was 4 at the time (and I might agree that is fair when it comes to water, gas, electricity, but not the phone, etc.) and the original agreement was for 1/2 of the rent/utilities, she's trying to change it now.

Just wondering what the SOL would be for this type of suit. Also, wanted to validate that she was blowing smoke up my a$$ when it came to being able to add this to her bankruptcy.

Thanks.
 


seniorjudge

Senior Member
kik1999 said:
What is the name of your state? Ohio

In March of 2003, I moved into a townhome with my daughter. A friend of mine who was (at the time) genuinely trying to get her life together approached me and asked if we could make an arrangement where she moved in, split the rent, utilities, etc. and it seemed like a good arrangement for both of us. Her work schedule and mine conflicted, so we wouldn't be at the house at the same time, so it was almost like not having her there at all. She lost her job and it went downhill from there. The last 3-4 months prior to my lease expiring were awful. Needless to say, I was covering her half of the bills to save my credit, as they were in my name. Lease was up in April of 2004 and we went our separate ways. She knows that she owes me money. She has admitted to owing me money. The phone bill alone was $1800 due to her calling her b.f. in FL. Grand total of what she owes me is around $3000 for her portion of unpaid rent and utilities.

On and off over the two years, I have gotten more sob stories from her than I can count on why she can't pay me (not even $5 towards the balance), and basically I've come to the conclusion that the only way to hold her accountable is to take her to small claims court. She is now claiming that she wants to add her half of what she owes me on her bankruptcy (which I know is impossible, as the bills were in my name, but she insists that her lawyer states it is possible) and that she should only be responsible for 1/3, as my daughter lived there too...my daughter was 4 at the time (and I might agree that is fair when it comes to water, gas, electricity, but not the phone, etc.) and the original agreement was for 1/2 of the rent/utilities, she's trying to change it now.

Just wondering what the SOL would be for this type of suit. Also, wanted to validate that she was blowing smoke up my a$$ when it came to being able to add this to her bankruptcy.

Thanks.
In bankruptcy, the bankrupt discharges debts owed by the bankrupt. If you think she owes you money, then she can discharge that in bankruptcy.
 

kik1999

Member
response to SJ

seniorjudge said:
In bankruptcy, the bankrupt discharges debts owed by the bankrupt. If you think she owes you money, then she can discharge that in bankruptcy.
And then I would be out of luck and responsible for the bills myself or can she list only what she owes me? Thankfully, I don't know much about bankruptcy, so I apologize for this question. I'm more upset that she is never held accountable for any of her actions, and of course that I am stuck paying for expenses I didn't inccur all by myself. Especially that darn phone bill.

What if I file the suit after her bankruptcy is complete? I don't know the time limit on when she filed, etc. nor do I know the SOL for small claims.

Thanks in advance for the help!
 

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