JamesHolwell
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? California (county is Yolo, city is Davis).
If you read my last post, you know that my half-crazed roommate was trying to kick out the guy who lived downstairs, just becuase she felt like it. Well, today he decided to leave. He is a graduate student, came all the way here from halfway across the country to attend this university, and simply could not get any work done under this madness. He says the final straw was the other night when she (the crazy roommate) decided to play hopscotch in her room at 2 in the morning (her room is above his bed). She jumped, pounded, and stomped on the floor all night, all in an (apparently successful) attempt to drive the poor guy over the edge and finally leave (mind you that this is a 20 year old woman we are talking about here, at one of the top universities in the state). And again, she had no grievances against him--she just felt like emptying out his room...all for the hell of it, just because she "likes to paly cruel pranks on people" (as she says).
Anyway, now that she has "won," she says that she is dropping out of school next month, and moving back home with her parents. So what I will have here now is a nearly $1,300 dollar a month apartment all to myself. I am a college student, and absolutely cannot afford to pay this. However, I understand that as a "co-tenant," if one co-tenant leaves, then the remaining co-tenant is responsible for the full rent (me). And while I'm sure I could probably take her to small claims court in the long run for unpaid rent, it would be to no avail, because in the meantime, I would not be able to pay the rent, nor do I have time for a court case in the middle of Winter quarter. And being the middle of the quarter, it is impossible for me to find two more roommates to take over their spots (or even one), much less find someone to sublease out the whole apartment (I've been trying, but there is simply no one looking for a place now).
So here's my question: Can I break the lease? I have been doing a lot of reading on the net, and in regards to that very question, am finding a dizzying array of contradictory information. Some places I see say that if you pay a "fee" that you can break the lease. I asked my manager if this was the case, and the manager did not even know--they'd never heard of this, and said that the only way she knew how to break a lease was if there was a medical reason or a military transfer. I've even seen some websites that claim to offer some kind of "service" to get you out of your lease (though I have yet to find one in California). Since there's no way I'll be able to pay the whole rent myself, and my chances of finding a subletter or replacement are looking increasingly grim, something's got to give...or I'm going to be evicted anyway--something of which I'd obviously rather avoid.
What can I do? Or am I just screwed...?
If you read my last post, you know that my half-crazed roommate was trying to kick out the guy who lived downstairs, just becuase she felt like it. Well, today he decided to leave. He is a graduate student, came all the way here from halfway across the country to attend this university, and simply could not get any work done under this madness. He says the final straw was the other night when she (the crazy roommate) decided to play hopscotch in her room at 2 in the morning (her room is above his bed). She jumped, pounded, and stomped on the floor all night, all in an (apparently successful) attempt to drive the poor guy over the edge and finally leave (mind you that this is a 20 year old woman we are talking about here, at one of the top universities in the state). And again, she had no grievances against him--she just felt like emptying out his room...all for the hell of it, just because she "likes to paly cruel pranks on people" (as she says).
Anyway, now that she has "won," she says that she is dropping out of school next month, and moving back home with her parents. So what I will have here now is a nearly $1,300 dollar a month apartment all to myself. I am a college student, and absolutely cannot afford to pay this. However, I understand that as a "co-tenant," if one co-tenant leaves, then the remaining co-tenant is responsible for the full rent (me). And while I'm sure I could probably take her to small claims court in the long run for unpaid rent, it would be to no avail, because in the meantime, I would not be able to pay the rent, nor do I have time for a court case in the middle of Winter quarter. And being the middle of the quarter, it is impossible for me to find two more roommates to take over their spots (or even one), much less find someone to sublease out the whole apartment (I've been trying, but there is simply no one looking for a place now).
So here's my question: Can I break the lease? I have been doing a lot of reading on the net, and in regards to that very question, am finding a dizzying array of contradictory information. Some places I see say that if you pay a "fee" that you can break the lease. I asked my manager if this was the case, and the manager did not even know--they'd never heard of this, and said that the only way she knew how to break a lease was if there was a medical reason or a military transfer. I've even seen some websites that claim to offer some kind of "service" to get you out of your lease (though I have yet to find one in California). Since there's no way I'll be able to pay the whole rent myself, and my chances of finding a subletter or replacement are looking increasingly grim, something's got to give...or I'm going to be evicted anyway--something of which I'd obviously rather avoid.
What can I do? Or am I just screwed...?