Roommates leave me with fees!

[CraigBrooks]

I lived in an apartment in Winterpark FL with 3 roommates. I was out of town and all of the roommates were permitted to sign their name off of the lease leaving me with all of the fees of termination of lease and property damage. I am told that everyone has to be present for someone to get off the lease, is this true? I now have almost $3000.00 on my credit that I do not feel obligated for. Any suggestions?

 

[Tracey]

Hmmm, someone has breached a contract with you, that's for sure! Landlord contracted with all 4 of you to be jointly and serverally liable for the rent/deposit/damages. By unilaterally releasing 3/4 of the potentially liable people, he breached his covenant of good faith with you. This may have reduced his potential damages against you to 1/4 of the total.

Alternatively, you 4 all promised to each other to be jointly & serverally liable for the charges under the lease. This was an implied contract between you 4. Thus, while landlord can release them from lliability directly to him, YOU can still sue them for contribution and reimbursement for 3/4 of the total damages landlord charges you. Don't forget to include attorney fees and costs!

Since there's a lot of money involved, I suggest you hire an attorney to assist you.

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.

 

[CraigBrooks]

I have no idea where the roommates are now...they have vanished. Would the courts try to locate them if I persued a lawsuit? Also, I moved out of state, so would I hire an attorney based here in Kentucky, or in Florida?

 

[Joan6o2]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CraigBrooks:
I lived in an apartment in Winterpark FL with 3 roommates. I was out of town and all of the roommates were permitted to sign their name off of the lease leaving me with all of the fees of termination of lease and property damage. I am told that everyone has to be present for someone to get off the lease, is this true? I now have almost $3000.00 on my credit that I do not feel obligated for. Any suggestions?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I think you could argue that the landlord should have known he would cause you financial damage by letting the roommates out of the contract. What were his reasons for letting the roommates off -- cash payments from them? I'd sue him for all damages.

 

[Tracey]

How did the $3k get all the way to your credit without you doing anything about it?

You should have disputed the charges as soon as you heard about them. If L didn't get you a list of damages within the statutory time limit, he can't charge you any damages and can't hold any funds from your sec. dep. to cover damages. Any attempt to do so means he has to refund double or triple the deposit. Also, L can't argue that you terminated the lease, because his action of unilaterally releasing the 3 roommates was a material breach releasing you from further liability under the lease.

You have to fight this all out in FL court. Since L's actions are one of the reasons you can't find the old roomies to sue them, equity would say that you should be able to have your damages to L reduced by 75%.


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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.