Roomie not paying his bills

LegacyUser

Hi folks,
I wrote before about a difficult situation with my friend/housemate.
Basically we seem to have fallen out, he began seeing a girl late last year and he just slowly began to cut me out and not talk to me, continually insinuated I was trying to break them up and cause problems and so on... I could write a book at how mad it all was and the amount of rubbish I have put up with from the girl in question. I won't write it all up again, I'd be here for days at this stage. Anyway, he obviously feels I am to blame for not talking to him, its so childish I don't know where to start.

Anyway, about a month ago he stated he wanted to move in with her because I was impossible to live with. We have about 6 months on our lease but he wants out. I presumed we wouldn't be renewing but I said, grin and bare it and move on when the lease runs out, but he wants to go now.

Anyway, its getting messy. My understanding of this sort of situation is that if a housemate wants to move out then they can, but they need to cover the cost or find a replacement to move in and to take over.

Basically he has now told me he does not want to pay any bills anymore. He spends most of his time over at his girlfriends house and as a result has determined that I use all the facilities and am therefore responsible for 100% of the bills.

He does not want to pay the electric bill any longer as I apparently use all the electricity, same goes for heating and he deems out TV/Internet bill a luxury he does not want to pay for (something he insisted we get all the HD channels and a big TV when we moved in though I could do without, but I need internet for work.) His thinking is that as he does not want that stuff anymore he feels he shouldn't have to pay his half of the rent/bills (wouldn't it be nice if we all had that option in life). I am not forcing him not to use this stuff, if he wants to spend most night in his girlfriends place that's his choice but he still has responsibilities to pay his side of things while we are under a lease, or that's what I think at least.
We also have parking spaces tied into the lease too. He now maintains he is not responsible to pay for his as he has the car over at his girlfriends house. But its tied to the lease and he DID want it, if he didn't want it in the first place he didn't need to add it to the lease but now he doesn't want it and feels I need to pay for it as if he's not using it, he's not responsible for it.

He even managed to talk us into a HIGHER rent for our 2nd year telling the landlord it was fine as we were getting a bonus in work last Christmas. Despite trying to get him to view several cheaper places he flat out refused to come see them with me as "he was prepared to pay more to live where we do". Eventually I gave in as we had to sign a new lease a month before old one ran out and I couldn't get him to view new places before that. My mistake for not just walking I guess but things weren't so bad at the time.

Anyway, this is the story, he wants all bills in my name and will not pay any more from this month. He intends to leave Sept. 1st but he does not know if he can get someone in for the final few months. He maintains all bills will be in my name, if someone comes in he will get them to pay his flat rent while I pay all existing bills 100% as the new person was not responsible for them from day 1 and he is moving out so is not responsible for them.

If he does not get someone in, I'm afraid he'll do a runner on the rent too. He says he'll pay it but he said the same about other bills a month ago until I pressed him on an answer.

To be honest I feel he is responsible for his half of all bills until our contracts are out as we both entered into an agreement, and if he does not want to be there he needs to find someone to take them over from him. It's not my responsibility. Am I right here?

The problem is, its a house share, so we have a joint lease and so on but it was our agreement to split everything down the middle. In the event he does a runner on the bills they still have to be paid and I feel I'll be forced into it if he flat out refuses to put up any money. Yes, he is as liable as I am for the bills but he just doesn't seem to care while I am afraid of it effecting my credit rating (we're in the states where this counts for everything), if we default on rent/bills, if reflects very badly.

I'm really in a state, I can't even afford to cover all of this, and it would nearly cost more in fees to get out of our lease and contracts at this stage than it would be to just finish them out, what do I do? I'm so stressed and worried over it now I'm doing my head in.

Distorted

Very dishonest of him. Whose name is on the bills? Anyway, if it is a joint lease you are right in what you say - that you will have to meet any shortfall on both the rent and the utility bills. Have you tried contacting the landlord to see what they say on the matter? The landlord might be able to find another tenant, alternatively it might be better for you to find another tenant.

Your only legal remedy against him as I see it would be pursueing him for out of pocket expenses you incur in making up any shortfall he owes. Simply saying he doesn't want to live there any more doesn't excuse his liability for his dues owed under the terms of the lease while he is still technically a tenant.

Its awful when people are so dishonest as they cause problems for people who try to do things right and stick to agreements. Just pity his girlfriend in having such a person in her own home now who can't be bothered to meet his legal and moral responsibilities in sorting out the old one.

Young_gunner

awkwardhouse wrote: »

Hi folks,
I wrote before about a difficult situation with my friend/housemate.
Basically we seem to have fallen out, he began seeing a girl late last year and he just slowly began to cut me out and not talk to me, continually insinuated I was trying to break them up and cause problems and so on... I could write a book at how mad it all was and the amount of rubbish I have put up with from the girl in question. I won't write it all up again, I'd be here for days at this stage. Anyway, he obviously feels I am to blame for not talking to him, its so childish I don't know where to start.

Anyway, about a month ago he stated he wanted to move in with her because I was impossible to live with. We have about 6 months on our lease but he wants out. I presumed we wouldn't be renewing but I said, grin and bare it and move on when the lease runs out, but he wants to go now.

Anyway, its getting messy. My understanding of this sort of situation is that if a housemate wants to move out then they can, but they need to cover the cost or find a replacement to move in and to take over.

Basically he has now told me he does not want to pay any bills anymore. He spends most of his time over at his girlfriends house and as a result has determined that I use all the facilities and am therefore responsible for 100% of the bills.

He does not want to pay the electric bill any longer as I apparently use all the electricity, same goes for heating and he deems out TV/Internet bill a luxury he does not want to pay for (something he insisted we get all the HD channels and a big TV when we moved in though I could do without, but I need internet for work.) His thinking is that as he does not want that stuff anymore he feels he shouldn't have to pay his half of the rent/bills (wouldn't it be nice if we all had that option in life). I am not forcing him not to use this stuff, if he wants to spend most night in his girlfriends place that's his choice but he still has responsibilities to pay his side of things while we are under a lease, or that's what I think at least.
We also have parking spaces tied into the lease too. He now maintains he is not responsible to pay for his as he has the car over at his girlfriends house. But its tied to the lease and he DID want it, if he didn't want it in the first place he didn't need to add it to the lease but now he doesn't want it and feels I need to pay for it as if he's not using it, he's not responsible for it.

He even managed to talk us into a HIGHER rent for our 2nd year telling the landlord it was fine as we were getting a bonus in work last Christmas. Despite trying to get him to view several cheaper places he flat out refused to come see them with me as "he was prepared to pay more to live where we do". Eventually I gave in as we had to sign a new lease a month before old one ran out and I couldn't get him to view new places before that. My mistake for not just walking I guess but things weren't so bad at the time.

Anyway, this is the story, he wants all bills in my name and will not pay any more from this month. He intends to leave Sept. 1st but he does not know if he can get someone in for the final few months. He maintains all bills will be in my name, if someone comes in he will get them to pay his flat rent while I pay all existing bills 100% as the new person was not responsible for them from day 1 and he is moving out so is not responsible for them.

If he does not get someone in, I'm afraid he'll do a runner on the rent too. He says he'll pay it but he said the same about other bills a month ago until I pressed him on an answer.

To be honest I feel he is responsible for his half of all bills until our contracts are out as we both entered into an agreement, and if he does not want to be there he needs to find someone to take them over from him. It's not my responsibility. Am I right here?

The problem is, its a house share, so we have a joint lease and so on but it was our agreement to split everything down the middle. In the event he does a runner on the bills they still have to be paid and I feel I'll be forced into it if he flat out refuses to put up any money. Yes, he is as liable as I am for the bills but he just doesn't seem to care while I am afraid of it effecting my credit rating (we're in the states where this counts for everything), if we default on rent/bills, if reflects very badly.

I'm really in a state, I can't even afford to cover all of this, and it would nearly cost more in fees to get out of our lease and contracts at this stage than it would be to just finish them out, what do I do? I'm so stressed and worried over it now I'm doing my head in.

What a friend?!

if i were you and he refused to pay bills - i'd call the Guards, that should sort him out. I've zero tolerance for people like him, you're better off without him

MissFlitworth

Are there bills in his name? If so then don't pay anything towards them, they aren't your responsibility. If he wants to put them into your name he can close his account with whoever the provider is (and pay off any early cancellation fees plus pay the balance on them) and then you can open a new account. While he's getting this stuff sorted put your half of any bills into a savings account so when you are responsible for them again you've got a chunk of money (and hopefully a new housemate) towards paying for them. It's not as easy as he might like to think to stiff someone for bills like that if the bills are in his name!

I am a friend

Yep he needs your permission to put the bills in your name so dont do it... Also give the landlord your notice. If he finds someone else in the next month you may not lose your deposit. Explain to them and they may be sympathetic. Out of principal i would not let him away with one euro.

JimmyCrackCorn

Give your notice and leave or kick him out and find someone else.

If you leave turn off all services in your name. You could take him to small claims if you want to get really upset about it.

LegacyUser

his behaviour is completely unreasonable and is 100% in the wrong. he still has to abide by the terms of his lease. speak to someone in citizen's information (www.citizensinformation.ie i think) they helped me out with advice etc when i had a similar problem with an old housemate.

good luck.

Kevin Duffy

Your housemate is talking out of his swiss and I sugest you go and get some reliable legal advice before you make any changes to leases, bills etc.

Little Acorn

Kevin Duffy wrote: »

Your housemate is talking out of his swiss and I sugest you go and get some reliable legal advice before you make any changes to leases, bills etc.

I agree with this. I would inform the landlord of exactly what your friend is doing, and he/she might know the legal way to solve this.
I see you are in America so I'm not sure of exactly where to go for other information, but some place that is similar to Citizen Information here in Ireland should be a good start.

Kevin Duffy

Little Acorn wrote: »

I agree with this. I would inform the landlord of exactly what your friend is doing, and he/she might know the legal way to solve this.
I see you are in America so I'm not sure of exactly where to go for other information, but some place that is similar to Citizen Information here in Ireland should be a good start.

Don't do this. Get independent legal advice first.

Little Acorn

Kevin Duffy wrote: »

Don't do this. Get independent legal advice first.

Why should he not tell the landlord? The landlord might be able to get someone to take his friend's place.

Kevin Duffy

Little Acorn wrote: »

Why should he not tell the landlord? The landlord might be able to get someone to take his friend's place.

Tell the landlord that one of them is likely to breach the contract?

OP, get legal advice, soon.

Little Acorn

Kevin Duffy wrote: »

Tell the landlord that one of them is likely to breach the contract?

OP, get legal advice, soon.

Well I thought it would just be the person who is breaching the contract- his friend who would get into legal trouble over it. The OP seems to be sticking to the contract.
It probably works differently to how I thought.
I second getting legal advice. Does America have free legal advice like our Citizens Information, or would OP have to pay a lawyer?

Starokan

i would assume that you are legally responsible only for bills in your own name. Don't dream of putting your name on all bills as all liability will then lie with you.

if you intend staying on in the house after this current lease ends, chat to your landlord about finding someone new and basically tearing up this lease and starting a new one without your current housemate. When i lived in the states we managed to do this and it was relatively easy.

continuing with the current scenario will cause you huge amounts of stress and if you can get rid of him now then do so .

Also when it comes to paying bills in his name , i would say put money directly into the account yourself as i would say if you give him the cash it wont get paid at all

hope you manage to work things out

Overheal

The problem is, its a house share, so we have a joint lease and so on but it was our agreement to split everything down the middle. In the event he does a runner on the bills they still have to be paid and I feel I'll be forced into it if he flat out refuses to put up any money. Yes, he is as liable as I am for the bills but he just doesn't seem to care while I am afraid of it effecting my credit rating (we're in the states where this counts for everything), if we default on rent/bills, if reflects very badly.

Get a lawyer.

Doesnt matter where his car is

Doesnt matter where his ass is

Doesnt matter what he's consuming, tbh.

any judge judy would say the same thing: you both verbally agreed to a split, he has to uphold the split. US law is fortunately a lot more involved about these sort of situations.

Does America have free legal advice like our Citizens Information, or would OP have to pay a lawyer?

Most offices provide free consultation regardless. Representation is what costs you money.

And, http://www.rentlaw.com/ I guess. Grain of salt. Free consultation is free consultation. Free stuff is always good!

The_Conductor

Little Acorn wrote: »

Well I thought it would just be the person who is breaching the contract- his friend who would get into legal trouble over it. The OP seems to be sticking to the contract.
It probably works differently to how I thought.
I second getting legal advice. Does America have free legal advice like our Citizens Information, or would OP have to pay a lawyer?

Its not the fact that the other party is the person proposing to breach the lease- its the fact that the lease is to be breached. Both parties signed the lease from the landlord's perspective, and both parties are thus jointly liable. Its the same in the States as it is here- if your name is on a lease and the other people feck off toTimbuctoo- as party to the lease, you can be held solely liable (and any claim you have on your ex housemate would then become a civil matter).

The OP *needs* to take independent legal advice on this- FLAC has some new people who are very good with tenancy law (don't bother with Citizens Advice, the OP needs a professional opinion- not a leaflet........)

Also- some people have mentioned the OP is in the US- why do people think this is the case? I can't see anywhere that indicates this?

Ken.

awkwardhouse wrote: »

Hi folks,
I wrote before about a difficult situation with my friend/housemate.
Basically we seem to have fallen out, he began seeing a girl late last year and he just slowly began to cut me out and not talk to me, continually insinuated I was trying to break them up and cause problems and so on... I could write a book at how mad it all was and the amount of rubbish I have put up with from the girl in question. I won't write it all up again, I'd be here for days at this stage. Anyway, he obviously feels I am to blame for not talking to him, its so childish I don't know where to start.

Anyway, about a month ago he stated he wanted to move in with her because I was impossible to live with. We have about 6 months on our lease but he wants out. I presumed we wouldn't be renewing but I said, grin and bare it and move on when the lease runs out, but he wants to go now.

Anyway, its getting messy. My understanding of this sort of situation is that if a housemate wants to move out then they can, but they need to cover the cost or find a replacement to move in and to take over.

Basically he has now told me he does not want to pay any bills anymore. He spends most of his time over at his girlfriends house and as a result has determined that I use all the facilities and am therefore responsible for 100% of the bills.

He does not want to pay the electric bill any longer as I apparently use all the electricity, same goes for heating and he deems out TV/Internet bill a luxury he does not want to pay for (something he insisted we get all the HD channels and a big TV when we moved in though I could do without, but I need internet for work.) His thinking is that as he does not want that stuff anymore he feels he shouldn't have to pay his half of the rent/bills (wouldn't it be nice if we all had that option in life). I am not forcing him not to use this stuff, if he wants to spend most night in his girlfriends place that's his choice but he still has responsibilities to pay his side of things while we are under a lease, or that's what I think at least.
We also have parking spaces tied into the lease too. He now maintains he is not responsible to pay for his as he has the car over at his girlfriends house. But its tied to the lease and he DID want it, if he didn't want it in the first place he didn't need to add it to the lease but now he doesn't want it and feels I need to pay for it as if he's not using it, he's not responsible for it.

He even managed to talk us into a HIGHER rent for our 2nd year telling the landlord it was fine as we were getting a bonus in work last Christmas. Despite trying to get him to view several cheaper places he flat out refused to come see them with me as "he was prepared to pay more to live where we do". Eventually I gave in as we had to sign a new lease a month before old one ran out and I couldn't get him to view new places before that. My mistake for not just walking I guess but things weren't so bad at the time.

Anyway, this is the story, he wants all bills in my name and will not pay any more from this month. He intends to leave Sept. 1st but he does not know if he can get someone in for the final few months. He maintains all bills will be in my name, if someone comes in he will get them to pay his flat rent while I pay all existing bills 100% as the new person was not responsible for them from day 1 and he is moving out so is not responsible for them.

If he does not get someone in, I'm afraid he'll do a runner on the rent too. He says he'll pay it but he said the same about other bills a month ago until I pressed him on an answer.

To be honest I feel he is responsible for his half of all bills until our contracts are out as we both entered into an agreement, and if he does not want to be there he needs to find someone to take them over from him. It's not my responsibility. Am I right here?

The problem is, its a house share, so we have a joint lease and so on but it was our agreement to split everything down the middle. In the event he does a runner on the bills they still have to be paid and I feel I'll be forced into it if he flat out refuses to put up any money. Yes, he is as liable as I am for the bills but he just doesn't seem to care while I am afraid of it effecting my credit rating (we're in the states where this counts for everything), if we default on rent/bills, if reflects very badly.

I'm really in a state, I can't even afford to cover all of this, and it would nearly cost more in fees to get out of our lease and contracts at this stage than it would be to just finish them out, what do I do? I'm so stressed and worried over it now I'm doing my head in.

This is where he says he's in the states.

Overheal

good job lucy

LegacyUser

Hi all,
OP here, yes thanks for all the advice.
I do actually live in the States so as you say, I'm not entirely sure who is the right people to contact. I need to look into it.

As some people mentioned, the case here really is that we have joint leases/contract, therefore if one of us DID do a runner, then legally, the other would be liable to make sure the bills are paid I guess.

I'm not sure but I think a lot of house shares are like this, or at least in my experience, costs are divided up by agreement by the housemates and you really are taking all parties on face value to act appropriately. Bills are usually in one persons name, agreements are made to pay that person.
The lease usually has all occupants name on it and the percentage each pays is usually a "gentleman's agreement". You just expect people not to be dicks and live up to their agreements and responsibilities, naive maybe, but how else can it be done?

I was not entirely happy living here lately given the atmosphere but just chose to grin and bare it until the end of the year and then get a new place when the lease is up. But he is choosing now to leave, really for the past few months he only spends 1-2 nights a week here but really that's not my fault. I feel him picking the fights and blaming me is just a reason to excuse his behaviour in leaving but really, I just don't think its my responsibility to pick up the cost of him just not wanting to live up to his side of the bargain. If he's not here 7 nights a week fine, but I'm not going to live by candle-light, if he's not here to use the electrics, tv or internet, nobody is stopping him, its his choice and we had an agreement to split it down the middle until the contract is over.

I'm just in a state really. He has shown himself to be an awful friend and now that his girlfriend wants to move in Sept when her lease is up, the cost is falling one ME! Not her, her lease is up, she gets a shiny new apartment, not him, he just doesn't want to pay his half so I fell *I* am literally the one out of pocket for her wanting a new apartment, its unbelievable!!!

I shouldn't even mention our other friends who have only heard his side as they have been blanking me too lately. Only hearing his side they seem to feel I am in the wrong too... its just all a nice bit of gossip for them really.

I don't know, in some ways is it worth just paying it all up and being rid of the guy for good.
On the other hand his behaviour is just not on and thinking he can get through life like this is unbelievable. So in another way I feel the total cost to just get rid of him is way more than is acceptable for me to be paying, I just don't know if there is any way for me to get any sort of satisfaction.

calex71

Ha here was I thinking , ah if this was the US everything I learned from Judge Judy would be handy for the OP, as it comes up all the time, but sure he's in Ireland and no use.

Being in the US changes things, small claims all the way.

No way you should be putting up with this level of rubbish OP seek advice from a qualified professional. Don't kick the roommate out though but let him go if he so wishes.