Roommate lied - am I in trouble?

[CeeBee72]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?
I live in Louisiana. In January, my roommate and I each signed a 6 month lease on a house. We each paid $150 security deposit directly to the landlord.

On January 28th, I wrote my roommate a check for my half of the February rent and January bills. On the 30th, she moved out with no notice, and without paying the February rent to the landlord. I stopped payment on the check, because I felt she had breached my "good faith" as to what the check was to be used for.

Her mother has now called me and told me she is filing charges against me for stopping payment on that check because her daughter wanted to use it for the security deposit. I told her the security deposit was between her and the landlord and since she breached our lease, she was not entitled to it back from them or me.

I do not dispute I owe her for January bills, and I will write her a check for that. But are my roommate's NSF fees for all the checks (when I stopped payment on the other check) she bounced my fault?

Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Who's Liable?]

I would say no... After all, it is not your responisbility to make sure she has enough extra money in her account to cover such an occurence...

I would say you were in the right by stopping payment on the check... Talk to your LL and see if they can change the locks... If you can, stay at the apartment and pay the entire amount of rent... When the lease is done, you can legally turn around and sue your roommate for half the rent for the months she did not contribute... Even though she is not living there, she did sign a legal contract stating she will pay X amount... You will have to cover the utility bills for the months you are there and cannot go after her for those...

I would tell the mom of the roommate that you will gladly deduct the NSF fees from the amount she owes you once the lease has terminated...

 

[JETX]

If you can, stay at the apartment and pay the entire amount of rent... When the lease is done, you can legally turn around and sue your roommate for half the rent for the months she did not contribute

Sorry, but that is NOT true.
You are OBLIGATED to try to mitigate your 'damages' (the costs you incur due to the breach of your now-former roommate). This is done by you making all reasonable efforts to replace your roommate. At the end of the process, either roommate replacement or lease expiration -- whichever is soonest, you can then sue for your damages. You won't win if you can't prove to the court that you made an 'honest effort' to mitigate.

 

[HomeGuru]

I agree. Do not pay games, tell the truth and deal with reality head on.