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roomate who ditched

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K

KMA

Guest
both my roommate and I signed a year lease in Tampa, FL that started in August 2000. at the time we signed the lease, we were engaged to be married, however, i broke the up with him before we moved into the apartment. we both agreed to still be roomates, though, since we already had planned the move and signed the lease (both of our names are on the lease). In late September he left the apartment in the middle of the night without even telling me (he left me a lengthy note explaining that he was jealous of a new boyfriend i had started dating) and has not payed any rent since September. he also took many personal items of mine with him, including some of my strong prescription narcotic pain medications (which he admitted to a few of our mutual friends) and my $1400 engagement ring (i was told by a friend that florida state law states that the ring is the property of the recipient). He has signed his portion of the release form to get himself off of the lease, but I have refused to sign my portion to get him off the lease because i figured that this would force him to pay his half of the rent. in the beginning, i attempted to resolve the rent problem with him, but he would threaten me on occassion and then began to harrass me and my new boyfriend in public situations. as of the last 6 months, my boyfreind and i have tried our best to avoid him. I do not have any replacement roommate, because I am new to the city, have prescription narcotics in the apartment, and don't trust strangers because of past experiences. he agreed to pay his portion of the rent if he ever bailed out of the apartment early and I agreed the same in front of other people. I also have saved emails that he sent; some of these were threatening. In some, he offered to pay his half of the rent every month and pay his portion of the utilities that were accumulated during the time that he was still occupying the apartment. He has failed to live up to these promises. Before he left the the apartment he racked up a six hundred dollar phone bill and left me to pay it even though both of our names were on the phone bill. I do not have his new address (I found out that he signed onto a new lease in this city),but I do have the phone number. I have tried to perform a reverse search on the internet, but it came up with nothing; probably because his number is unlisted. he is a student at the same universiy as i am and is currently employed there. I am most concerned about getting back the money I had to pay for his half of the rent. I am a student and I do not have much money to spend on retaining a lawyer; what course of action would you suggest i take? also, what do you think my chances are of winning a case like this? thank you for your time and consideration! (sorry this is so lengthy)
 


JETX

Senior Member
It certainly sounds like you have a fairly strong case against your 'ex', but you need to consider the following issues:

1) Do not release him from liability for the rent until either the lease expires, or you get a signed promissory note (contract) from him agreeing that he owes you 'x' dollars for unpaid rent and utilities.

2) You need to consider the total amount that you claim he owes versus the jurisdictional limits of FL Small Claims court ($5,000.00). Do not let the debt exceed this amount or you may throw yourself out of Small Claims. Also, to see some 'layperson' references to FL Small Claims, click on the following:
http://jud10.flcourts.org/CountyCourt/SmallClaims/claims.htm
http://www.fllawonweb.com/SmallClaims.htm

3) You might also consider getting a book at your library or bookstore:
http://www.netstoreusa.com/ljbooks/157/1570713626.shtml

4) Anytime you are considering taking legal action against someone (or a business), the first consideration shouldn't be "Can I win??". It should be "Can I collect IF I win??". Will your 'ex' be able to pay when/if you win a judgment against him?? If you feel you can collect, what kind of ordeal are you willing to go through to enforce it??

Finally, a suggestion:
Print out all of the emails and other documents on your computer NOW!! And be sure to include the full 'headers'. You would be surprised how many cases were lost when "All my evidence was on the computer when it crashed!!". Print it out NOW!
 

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