REAL ESTATE

Question: I recently moved into an apartment with a roommate. We both signed a month-to-month rental agreement. On Jan. 2, I came home and found she had moved out, had not paid her portion of the rent and had left her room totally trashed and painted weird colors. I’ve paid the full rent for January and I have found a replacement roommate who starts March 1. My question is: What can I sue my ex-roommate for? I spent a ton of time and some money repainting and repairing the bedroom.

Answer: Your and your ex-roommate were co-tenants, which means that the landlord could demand the full rent from either of you. How the two of you divide the rent is up to you, and careful co-tenants write down this understanding, along with other key issues involved in living together (Who pays the utilities? How long may guests stay?), in a roommate agreement, signed by both. An agreement should also address what the roommates will do if one wants to or needs to leave.

Although landlords are legally entitled to proper notice before a tenant can terminate a month-to-month rental agreement, no such law governs leave-takings between co-tenants.

Your time and materials spent repairing and painting the roommate’s bedroom are another matter, however. You would have had to take these steps at the end of your tenancy in order to avoid a deduction from your security deposit. And presumably, your ex contributed to that deposit. When you leave and the landlord returns the deposit to you, you could write a letter to the ex, explaining that you’re refunding her share of the deposit minus the expenses you incurred to clean up after her.

-- Janet Portman, Inman News

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