breach of lease?

[almostsm]

What is the name of your state? MN

I have a friend who just moved to the state of Minnesota for school. There are no dorms there, so she looked online to find someone to move in with (I guess there are sites specifically designated for looking for roomates.)

She did find someone, they moved in about a month ago, and both of their names are on the lease. However, her roomate just decided she was too homesick and decided to move out while my friend was gone for a week (my friend had to come back home for a funeral.)

My friend is very upset because the whole purpose of having a roomate was to alleviate the cost of rent, which she cannot afford on her own.

How does my friend handle this? What can she do legally in this situation? Doesn't this hurt her roomate's credit, or doesn't it matter if my friend continues to pay the rent?

 

[JETX]

How does my friend handle this? What can she do legally in this situation?

Very simple.
She aggressively looks for a replacement roommate.
She continues to pay the FULL rent while she is living there.
When she finds a replacement, she then sues her former roommate to recover her damages (the amount she had to pay for her, plus the costs of finding another roommate).

Doesn't this hurt her roomate's credit

Not if it goes unreported... and no, your friend can't report it.