Getting Rid of Your Memphis Apartment Roommate
Jun 26th, 2007 by Memphis Apartments
You thought you would love having a roommate. Now you no longer want to live with your roommate. In fact, you are no longer friends and can barely be polite to one another. No problem. You can just ask him to leave, right?
It may not be that simple. You have four basic scenarios that have potentially different outcomes. In the first scenario, you and your roommate are co-tenants, with you has head of household. This means that you are both equally responsible for leasing the Memphis apartment. You both probably pay your portion of the rent directly to the landlord. In this situation, you cannot force your roommate to leave the Memphis apartment. You basically have equal share. Your liability may be greater since you are head of household.
In the second scenario, you and your roommate are co-tenants, but your roommate is listed as head of household. This makes it even more difficult to get rid of your roommate, because he may have more responsibility for the unit under the law. It may not be easy for you to just walk away either since your lease is a binding contract.
In the third scenario, the lease is in your name and you have sub-let the Memphis apartment in essence to your roommate. He pays his portion of the rent to you, and you pay full rent to the landlord. His name is nowhere on the lease or rental application. This can be a tricky situation, particularly if you did not enter this arrangement with full landlord knowledge and approval.
In the fourth scenario, the lease is in your roommate’s name and you sub-lease from him. You pay your portion of the rent to your roommate, and he pays full rent to the landlord. In this situation, you have the least amount of control in terms of getting rid of him. However, you may be able to leave the housing relationship easier in this case.
Before you do anything, make sure you know what the terms of your lease or rental agreement are with your roommate. Immediately contact an attorney if you do not know your legal rights and obligations in a roommate situation. It is important that you not do something that puts you in legal jeopardy. You can call your local tenant/landlord association or legal aid society for guidance.
The best solution is to wait until the end of your lease or rental arrangement. If the Memphis apartment is yours, give him notice that you want him to move out. If the Memphis apartment is his, consider giving notice that you will be moving to another Memphis apartment as soon as possible. It is probably a good idea to let the landlord know the situation. If your roommate damages the Memphis apartment on his way out, the landlord can charge him rather than you.
If the situation is truly intolerable, try to talk to your roommate. Ask him to find someplace else to live or ask to be released from your housing arrangement. If he refuses, you may just need to work out a schedule so you are both not in the Memphis apartment at the same time. This will prevent a bad situation from escalating in to something neither of you want.
Everything always seems great at the beginning of a roommate situation, particularly if you are good friends with your roommate. Never assume that situation will remain the same over time. Always know what your rights and responsibilities are as a renter. If you do not understand a lease or housing agreement, do not sign it! Your signature indicates your agreement to the terms indicated in the contract.