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Cousin Broke the Lease, Went to Court Today, But Couldn't Come to a Mutual Agreement

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opp0628

Junior Member
Ohio.

-Lease from Sept. 2011-Sept. 2012
-Cousin up and left in January 2012 and only paid till March.
-Rest of the months unpaid.
-His father (co-signor) said they will continue to pay his half of the bills.
-Talked to an attorney that january and he told me as long as i make attempts to get a roommate i should win the case, which i did, i posted a roommate needed and asked friends from work. I got proof and signatures from people i asked.
-The attorney also brought to my attention that the lease stated that the rent and All utilities must be paid by the tenant, which we both signed.
-We went to court today, and the way the judge was speaking was that i may not be granted the $2000+ that he owes me, why? He said "because that's just how things are, unless i was a landlord." What difference is it from being a landlord and having my tenant sign a lease "to" having two tenants signing a lease and agreeing with each to split everything 50-50? The judge made it seem like not only do i need to sign the lease, i needed a written agreement that we will pay the rent and utilities together. Who would've ever thought to do something in that manner? especially from someone you've known all your life.
-We go outside the courtroom to talk and my cousin says that he will pay only the rent which is $1770 and not the rest but i want all my money, every penny because if i left him like that without any warning and he was in my shoes, including the judge, they would want every penny too. Also i had to take out extra loan money from school to pay for my rent, and my mother also had to help me.

What do you think? Should i get the money?
I never treated my cousin unfair, he finally realized that he wasn't ready to live on his own. if i had to go into great details about how you guys should be on my side i will.
also what could be some ways to get the judge to be on my side instead of my cousins?
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Why should he pay for utilities that he didn't use? His offer to pay his share of the rent seems extremely fair.
 

opp0628

Junior Member
Because we both agreed to live there together, pay everything 50-50. if you make an agreement to pay anything i feel it's only fair to live up to what you say. It's not like i ran the electric bill up btw, the electric bill was a "must" they said we had to have that and that was at least apart of the lease. and it's not like with the cable and phone, i bought movies and did anything different then when he was there, he used those items more than i did.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Because we both agreed to live there together, pay everything 50-50. if you make an agreement to pay anything i feel it's only fair to live up to what you say. It's not like i ran the electric bill up btw, the electric bill was a "must" they said we had to have that and that was at least apart of the lease. and it's not like with the cable and phone, i bought movies and did anything different then when he was there, he used those items more than i did.
How do you think it's fair that he pay his share of the rent AND also pays for half of YOUR electricity use?
 

latigo

Senior Member
How do you think it's fair that he pay his share of the rent AND also pays for half of YOUR electricity use?
If this were a month-to month-tenancy I would be in agreement as the OP could bail out in 30 days, or perhaps less.

But it wasn’t a month-to month arrangement. They co-leased the premises for a fixed one-year term. And in my opinion - and apparently that of the attorney - in doing so they either expressly or by implication agreed to be jointly responsible for the utility services necessary to accommodate the use of the leased premises.

If they had co-signed a rent-to-buy big screen TV, could one reasonably disclaim responsibility for the payments because he chose not to watch any televised programming, or he found other living quarters? I don’t think so, nor do a see any distinction with respect to the utility services.

I think the small claims judge shafted the OP. But it is probably too late to appeal and if so, it is a closed issue.
 

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