Q&A: What to do with horrible unpaying roommates?

Question by f0amy_squirrel: What to do with horrible unpaying roommates?
1) I moved into this place with a friend, say..myra. The landlord said we could paint the walls any color we liked, as long as they could paint over it in one coat it would be ok. So we painted the walls, green, orange and..myra chose pink O_o. My name was on the lease, even though the landlord knew i was living with my friend. We began school august, agreed on a having a landline, then she decided she felt it wasnt fair that she should pay for something that she barely used, etc etc, thats when problems began with her being fussy on what to split up. she got a bf, ended up going there most of the time, then in december said she was moving out at the end of january and would pay for feb if my other friend, say bertha (who was having problems at home, called me at 3 am crying saying she ran away from her house with no shoes on just to get away, and WANTED/NEEDED to move out on her own), couldnt move in on time. Myra kept her stuff at my place all of january and bertha said she might be able to move in feb 1. then it was feb 15. then when myra got her stuff out of my place, she refused to pay for feb because it “wasn’t her problem” that bertha didnt move in on time. so then bertha was pissed she had to pay half a month she wasnt there.. (PERSONALLY, i think thats myra’s fault and bertha should be angry with her, NOT ME)
2. after bertha finally found a job and got some money she started paying rent, which i had decided was going to be a set number instead of splitting everything so nitty gritty like, and then april came and she couldnt afford it at all, so i paid the WHOLE month ($ 725+util) meaning that she owed me $ 425. she began to make friends and would bring them home and they would drunkenly sleep in my bed and broke some things in my room when i wasn’t home. I told her that i never wanted that to happen again, it didnt. That tension built when i became depressed after breaking up with my boyfriend of 3 yrs at the time and became a night owl slob and wouldnt clean up after myself very much. She liked cleaning and didnt have a problem at first, then she just blew up at me and refused to pay the internet “because she barely used it”. Then she began to say she couldnt stand living with me. I tried to clean up my act but i was barely there half the time (i was visiting friends out of town via train).

***THIS IS THE BIG ISSUE** It was June 14 when she said she was moving out at the end of the month and would pay for July because she “felt bad”. I told her that it was illegal if she didn’t pay me, then that’s when shit hit the fan. (BTW WE STILL HAD THE LEASE FOR ANOTHER YEAR) I told her i needed a month’s notice and that she had to pay for the month regardless. I was willing to work things out, because technically, if she gave notice on the 14th, it would be mid month. So i was going to tell her that she could just pay me for half a month PLUS what she owed me from april. She didnt want to discuss it, paid for the whole month instead, and when i went to confront her about April’s rent she claimed she didnt have to pay me because she paid for a month that she wasnt living there anyway. So, basic math. she owed me 425. I didn’t get my damage deposit back because “The landlord had to buy paint to cover up the walls”. Even after she specifically told us we could paint them whatever colors and we adhered to her demands, however we did break the lease early so i was fine with that. So.. after i got screwed out of that, i couldnt give bertha her deposit back. Bertha claimed i gave her this number “$ 600″ that she had to pay me, and since she paid for that month that she wasnt living there, she would therefore only owe me $ 125???

what do you think? she owes me $ 425? or $ 125??? Even if i had split that month she would still technically owe me $ 425 from that month she missed! Could i take her to small claims court because we have been bickering about this for over 2 years now and she has STILL not paid up and now she ignores me any way i contact her. I have the bank statements to prove it, and an online chat conversation that she clearly stated i “made her life a living hell and that everything was my fault and i made her move and pay for things she didn’t have to”

whose fault is whose? who pays who what? what do i do? can i do anything? PLEASE help, i STILL lose sleep over this, knowing that someone still owes me a bunch of money that i need. any insight that could guide me in the right direction would help SO much.
I also never received a receipt from the landlord at any time because she lived in a different province and her agent told me to just deposit the money into her account every month. I also did not have a written notice from either roommate.Therefore, I have no real solid paper evidence of transactions except for my bank statements.

Best answer:

Answer by OR
this is very complicated. I suggest getting a consultation from a lawyer and strongly consider a lawsuit. There is a lease, whoever signed it is liable for it, damages and not paying rent included. Don’t let them leave you holding the financial bag.

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