Hi,
I'm from Phoenix, AZ and had a contract with two of my roommates to split a third of our utilities and a third of our rent from Aug 2007 - July 2008. One of my roommates did not pay me approximately $1200 of our agreement (the last 3 months).
He signed the lease, making him jointly liable for the rent, made a verbal contract with me to split a third of the rent and utilities and initially wrote me a check for the amount I'm trying to collect, but voided it telling me he didn't have the funds at this time.
I know I have a winning case and am legally entitled to the amount owed, but I have a question on what I can claim from him when I go to small claims.
I just graduated college and because him and my other roommate neglected to pay me a total of $3,000, I had to open a credit card to come out even. My other roommate paid me and I paid off that amount, leaving the balance of $1200 (the amount my roommate owes) still on my card.
My credit card had 6 months no APR, so if he pays me before March 15th, I can pay off the entire amount and not earn any interest. However, if he doesn't reimburse me by that date, I'm going to be charged all the interest for the last 6 months and whatever interest (8-9%) on his amount monthly, after that.
I can sit down with my bank and estimate the interest amount that will be charged March 15th, and then the approximate monthly interest for his $1200 and could bring those numbers to court with me.
Is he legally responsible for those costs as well, as they would not have incurred if he had paid me? And how would I go about obtaining legal judgment for those costs -- Is small claims the best option or should I take a different route? Would I just take him to small claims and claim $1200 + court fees + interest?
Thank you so much!
Lynette
I'm from Phoenix, AZ and had a contract with two of my roommates to split a third of our utilities and a third of our rent from Aug 2007 - July 2008. One of my roommates did not pay me approximately $1200 of our agreement (the last 3 months).
He signed the lease, making him jointly liable for the rent, made a verbal contract with me to split a third of the rent and utilities and initially wrote me a check for the amount I'm trying to collect, but voided it telling me he didn't have the funds at this time.
I know I have a winning case and am legally entitled to the amount owed, but I have a question on what I can claim from him when I go to small claims.
I just graduated college and because him and my other roommate neglected to pay me a total of $3,000, I had to open a credit card to come out even. My other roommate paid me and I paid off that amount, leaving the balance of $1200 (the amount my roommate owes) still on my card.
My credit card had 6 months no APR, so if he pays me before March 15th, I can pay off the entire amount and not earn any interest. However, if he doesn't reimburse me by that date, I'm going to be charged all the interest for the last 6 months and whatever interest (8-9%) on his amount monthly, after that.
I can sit down with my bank and estimate the interest amount that will be charged March 15th, and then the approximate monthly interest for his $1200 and could bring those numbers to court with me.
Is he legally responsible for those costs as well, as they would not have incurred if he had paid me? And how would I go about obtaining legal judgment for those costs -- Is small claims the best option or should I take a different route? Would I just take him to small claims and claim $1200 + court fees + interest?
Thank you so much!
Lynette
