In a pickle need help !

d-don

Hi all ,
Ill keep this as simple as possible . Signed a year lease (two months left ) broke up with the ex etc and she's moved out . Now I'm expected to pay the full rent ! We are both named on the lease and both signed it . I have no problem paying my half but is the ex still liable for her half ? .. Been left in a pretty crap situation .. Dunno what to do any advice people's would be great. :mad:

fasttalkerchat

d-don wrote: »

Hi all ,
Ill keep this as simple as possible . Signed a year lease (two months left ) broke up with the ex etc and she's moved out . Now I'm expected to pay the full rent ! We are both named on the lease and both signed it . I have no problem paying my half but is the ex still liable for her half ? .. Been left in a pretty crap situation .. Dunno what to do any advice people's would be great. :mad:

I think if she's absconded, you are responsible for the lot. The only way around that is to each rent a room but then you lose some of your rights.

RATM

If her name is signed on the lease then yes, she has to pay the rent even if she doesn't stay there. The landlord would be entitled to pursue her for it or (I think) he could pursue you for it if you are what is known as joint and severly liable, which I think you would be but someone else will clarify that.

You should talk to her about it asap, moving out does not absolve her of the legal document she has signed.

A compromise might be for her to move back in and pay rent but you sleep on the sofa, especially if she can't pay rent in two places simultaneously. She might not want to move back in but for both your sakes you have to find a solution here or you could be on the end of a legal case from your landlord for not fulfilling the contract you both signed.

P_1

The rent still has to be paid no matter who's name is down on the lease.

At this point you have 3 options

1 - Move out
2 - Pay the full rent yourself
3 - Get somebody else in to cover the 'missing' half of the rent

RATM

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I think if she's absconded, you are responsible for the lot. The only way around that is to each rent a room but then you lose some of your rights.

I'm not getting the logic of this. If a husband and wife have a joint mortgage and they separate it doesn't mean one of them gets off the hook. I can't see it being any different with a rental lease to be honest.

I've got a couple of friends who bought houses with their girlfriends and later split up. They still have to pay the mortgage jointly though, the banks won't be letting anyone off the hook because they've had a lovers tiff, I wouldn't expect a landlord to either.

If the OP is joint and severally liable then the landlord could legally pursue him and him alone for all the rent. It would then be up to him to pursue his girlfriend legally for her half, which he would be perfectly entitled to do and would win his case hands down in a court of law.

But courts are not a direction that he wants to go down for the sake of 2 months rent, better to find a compromise here. Renting a room as you suggest is definitely an option if the landlord will agree to a sub let, however it might be very difficult to find a tenant to sub let for 8 weeks only.

fasttalkerchat

RATM wrote: »

But courts are not a direction that he wants to go down for the sake of 2 months rent, better to find a compromise here. Renting a room as you suggest is definitely an option if the landlord will agree to a sub let, however it might be very difficult to find a tenant to sub let for 8 weeks only.

I meant in general. There is no way for 2 people sharing a house not to be jointly liable unless they rent rooms separately.

Ste.phen

P_1 wrote: »

The rent still has to be paid no matter who's name is down on the lease.

At this point you have 3 options

1 - Move out
2 - Pay the full rent yourself
3 - Get somebody else in to cover the 'missing' half of the rent

The first option only really applies if the landlord is OK with it, tbh

djimi

She needs to grow up and act like an adult. She signed a legal document to say she would pay rent for X amount of time; she can't just walk out on that because you two broke up. There is two months left on the lease; if it were me I'd be trying to sit down and come to an arrangement to get through the last couple of months on the lease, whatever it takes.

You have the option of finding a suitable tenant yourself to reassign the remainder of your lease to, but with only two months remaining on the lease this might not be worth the effort? Have you tried talking to the landlord and explaining the situation? They have no obligation to help you out of the lease early, but if you're desperate then it'd always worth a try.