Recovery of ex-roommate's portion of bills

[ntrsphd]

A friend of mine had a roommate, whom all parties, including the apartment complex, believed was on the apartment lease. My friend had agreed to add this person to the lease so that they could split the rent. They also had an oral agreement to split the cost of utility/other bills. The roommate had in the past paid their share of the bills with a check with the notation "Bills (Month) '04."

The roommate recently moved out. It turns out that the apartment complex lost the paperwork and never actually added the roommate to the lease. When my friend went to the ex-roommate to recover their portion of the back due bills, the friend was issued another similar check. However, the ex-roommate put a "stop payment" on the check, and it bounced when deposited, with the charge going to my friend. Having sought to get the ex-roommate to pay their share of the final month's bills (which the ex-roommate refuses to do), my friend is resorting to small claims court (since the amount was not great).

My friend has a copy of the other checks, establishing a pattern of behavior and indicating the existence of the oral agreement, as well as the cancelled check. My friend also has copies of all of the bills, to prove that the past checks were for half of the total value, as per the agreement.

Does my friend have a valid claim in small claims to recover the unpaid portion of the bills, despite the absence of a signed contract?

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Yes
No
Maybe.

All of this is a matter of fact for a judge (i.e., small claims court) to decide.