Roomate running out on lease. Small claims court?

[Locke]

So, one of my 2 roomates decided to pay this month's rent then leave without finding a replacement. We have someone coming in the end of may to take the place, but my roomate is refusing to pay for april's rent and half of may's. Is this something my other roomie and I could take to small claim's court and get a judgement in our favor? Anyone been through this before?

 

[phonemonkey]

What all did you have in writing? Without that, you'll want some witnesses to try to back up your story.

 

[Locke]

I just have the copy of the lease with our 3 signatures on it with the terms and length of lease.

 

[Locke]

Bump! Anyone else? =)

 

[EagleKeeper]

You may be able to take them to small claims court. question is, is it worth your time/effort. It will take between 2-3 months to just get a hearing.

If a judgement goes for you, then you still have to go through the effort to get them to pay up.

How much $$ are you talking about? Did they leave a security deposit with the original lease?

 

[Locke]

Ohhh, thanks! I completely forgot they have 1 month down as a security deposit! I wonder if they did ^^

 

[DurocShark]

I was checking to see if you live in Cali...

My friend (oddly enough, he was my roomie at one time) just moved out of his cousin's rented house with like 1 week notice.

My friend's really easy going as a roomie, and yet he kept having battles with his cousin. Just a big mess. So I helped him move out on Sunday.

If you're having personality conflicts, just let him go, write off the $$, and get on with life. If the person just split for no appreciable reason, but the $$ difference is only a couple hundred and you can cover it, again, let it go. You'll just stress out over it.

Instead, look at it this way: You didn't lose a roomie, you gained a play room for a month!