1. He is giving us 1 week notice that he is moving out.
He said the house is messy, when it is just cluttered because it's the end of the semester and he is used to having a maid. Literally, he has never had to even wash his own clothes before, so he thinks a cup on the counter is a mess.
2. He never signed the lease.
I gave it to him to send to the landlord but he never did it (we didn't know). So despite us giving him the lease three times, and he implied it was taken care of, he is technically not a tenant that the landlord is aware of. This is one reason he is moving - we are forcing him to sign the lease when we realized he didn't do it.
3. He's a bad roommate.
He smokes pot (my other roommate is in the military so if it's in his system it can be detected and he can be severely punished), he is constantly late paying bills (3 months late at times) and he is intolerably passive-aggressive.
4. Other facts: Lease ends in 7 months. State of Iowa. Everyone paid $500 deposit. I paid the deposit for everyone when we signed the lease, and the roommates gave me their portion.
My questions:
- Are we (the remaining roommate and I) obligated to give him the deposit back?
- If we refuse to give him the deposit back, do we have a good defense if he takes this to court?
Helpful comments and advice is really appreciated. I've never had to deal with this king of situation before.
He said the house is messy, when it is just cluttered because it's the end of the semester and he is used to having a maid. Literally, he has never had to even wash his own clothes before, so he thinks a cup on the counter is a mess.
2. He never signed the lease.
I gave it to him to send to the landlord but he never did it (we didn't know). So despite us giving him the lease three times, and he implied it was taken care of, he is technically not a tenant that the landlord is aware of. This is one reason he is moving - we are forcing him to sign the lease when we realized he didn't do it.
3. He's a bad roommate.
He smokes pot (my other roommate is in the military so if it's in his system it can be detected and he can be severely punished), he is constantly late paying bills (3 months late at times) and he is intolerably passive-aggressive.
4. Other facts: Lease ends in 7 months. State of Iowa. Everyone paid $500 deposit. I paid the deposit for everyone when we signed the lease, and the roommates gave me their portion.
My questions:
- Are we (the remaining roommate and I) obligated to give him the deposit back?
- If we refuse to give him the deposit back, do we have a good defense if he takes this to court?
Helpful comments and advice is really appreciated. I've never had to deal with this king of situation before.
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