What are my rights with my roommate if he is not making hi financial commitments?
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What are my rights with my roommate if he is not making hi financial commitments?
I have been living with my current roommate for about 6 months; the lease is in his name. We agreed to split the rent down the middle. He pays the water and electric;I pay the cable, internet and home phone (they stay even in cost). For the past 3 months my roommate has been spending more time at his parent’s house. During this time the water has gotten shut off and I’ve had to remind him. The first month I ended up having to pay just enough to get it back on because I could not get in touch with him for 3 days and now this month he yet again has yet to pay the water bill (it’s been a week).
Asked on October 21, 2011 under Real Estate Law, South Carolina
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If the lease for the unit that you and your roommate are sharing is solely in his name, then you essentially are a subtenant of your roommate where for all intents and purposes he is your landlord and he is the tenant under the lease with the owner of the property you two are living in.
If your roommate is not honoring his obligations under the lease with the landlord and you, your option is to terminate your lease with him.
From what you have written, it seems that your roommate most likely has little interest in continuing on with his obligations to you and his landlord. If you want to end your subtenancywith your roommate, perhaps now is the time to do so. Before you do so, I suggest that you sit down with him to see what his plans are concerning the rental.
Good luck.
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