Conference quark::mennotes-v1

    	If both of your names are on the lease, then legally YOU can be
    	held responsible for the entire payment (as can he) even if you
    	have already paid your half.  If he goes bankrupt or disappears,
    	the landlord can come after you for the entire amount.
    
    	The guy sounds like a deadbeat, and he seems to be willing to
    	work beneath the law.  (He is willing to bounce checks and run
    	from obligations.)  Deal with him in the same manner.  The first
    	time he falls behind and puts your name and credit in jeopardy,
    	get a half dozen friends to stop by, and collectively tell him
    	that he has 24 hours to vacate the apartment, or you and your
    	friends will do it for him.  Forget about 30-day notices and all 
    	that.  Just kick him out.  This will leave you solely responsible
    	for the apartment, and you will be burdened with finding a new
    	roommate.  But I have seen "friendly" apartment-sharing
    	arrangements become entangled and messy.  Get out of it early.
    	If he falls behind, the worst thing you can do is try to keep him 
    	on until he gets paid up.  The longer it drags out, the worse it
    	will get.
    
    	Joe Oppelt

    
    
    
    I agree with -1.  Get him out now.  A similar situation happened to
    me when I was in college.  There were four of us sharing an apt with
    all four names on the lease.  One roomie was continually late with
    rent and even missed a payment.  We covered a few times, but got
    fed up and contacted the landlord.  He was really great about the
    entire thing, and the three of us and he planned on taking the
    situation into court.  That was the only alternative we had at
    the time becuase the roomie was not going to move out.  
    
    The landlord filed all the necessary papers for court and we
    all went in.  The three of us who had been paying each presented
    cancelled checks to the mediator.  The landlord told the mediator
    that we were not at fault and that he did not want to hold us
    responsible (even though legally he could).  The outcome was
    that the deadbeat payed up and left within a week.  The three
    of us found another roommate within two weeks which did not leave
    any lapse in rent payment.  It worked out well for all of us.
    But the only reason it worked was becuase our landlord was willing
    to work it out with us.  Consequently we ended up staying with
    that landlord for three years.  I think good landlords are just
    as hard to find as good tenants.
    
    
    If your name is on the lease you are responsible for the rent,
    regardless of if it is half or all.  If I were you I would
    start looking for another roommate, talk with your landlord,
    and get the guy out of there.  You will lose in the end if
    you do not take action now.     

    Since the roommate's name's on the lease, the landlord might help.  The
    landlord could give both of you 30 days notice to leave, then sign you
    back, alone, for the next month.
    
    If the landlord won't help, it'll be a little harder, but still
    possible.
    
    One thing you might try is to level with your roommate.  Say "With all
    your boasting about bouncing checks and not paying rent at your old
    place, I'm getting nervous.  The first time you don't come up with the
    rent on time or your check bounces, you're out of here, immediately."
    
    Roommate problems can be awful.  Good luck dealing with it...
    
    Pam

    try cross-posting or reading TALLIS::REAL_ESTATE.  I don't know how to
    set it up for KP7

    

     If there is know getting around making getting a new roommate,yes
    bye all means get rid of the problem.But do be careful on how the
    matter is delt with.Finding some friends to help you move him out,
    is definetly a little bet too crazy.If you where to step over this
    line,this person would have anice little law soot of there own,
    concerning private property,and there own rights.
          This can be very touchy,trust me I know,last summer my too
    roommate left me with a broken lease,and a damiged apartment.this
    cost me a fortune,not too mention my pride.After there little boy
    friends decided I was playing around with there ladys.And tryed
    to putme in the hospital.Lucky for me,I,m quit good at defending
    myself when my little world is in danger.Even if I tryed to us force
    to move these indeviduals out,in this manner,in court its your word
    agianst theres.BE CARFUL,THINK BEFORE YOU STRIKE.

    this discussion is a bit hard to follow... but I agree that you should
    be careful how you proceed against any irrational person.  I was in a
    similar roommate situation once, long ago.  There were 4 of us sharing
    a house, 2 women, 2 men.  One of the men was a crazy.  Oh he was very
    good at first impressions, but not good at sustaining them.  The most
    succinct description of him I can give is that he is the only person
    that I can imagine recognizing, passed out drunk by the side of the road,
    on my way home one night, and deliberately decided to leave there.  I
    wouldn't give a fig for my safety if I had stopped for him.  Anyhow he
    stiffed us for the last month's rent, and for a $200 phone bill
    (collect calls in the dead of night from L.A., and his side of the
    conversation goes like this: "yah, yah... what!?!?!?  I'll *get* you
    the money!  Don't you threaten me, you ^$(@$."  charming, no?).  I
    should add that this man was a Vietnam Vet, ex-Marine; that is, trained
    by the best to be dangerous.  (No, NOT crazy because a Vet; just
    coincidence.)
    
    When confronted by the other woman - she was impulsive - he chased her
    out of the house screaming.  She never came back.  We used his security
    deposit, and split the phone bill.  Now, I have to admit that I'm a bit
    dense in some situations; I ran into him on a campus bus and told him
    out flat that he was a jerk to have done what he did.  I used some
    extremely colorful language in describing him and the medical condition
    of certain of his body parts.  He turned back from leaving the bus and
    came down the aisle at me.  Lucky for me, some small part of him
    noticed that there were witnesses, so he stopped in time (phew!) and
    cussed me out and left.  Sheesh I can be dumb sometimes.
    
    anyhow the point is to be rid of such a person, but don't forget to
    consider your safety where dealings with any crazy person is concerned.

>     <<< Note 474.9 by ULTRA::THIGPEN "You can't dance and stay uptight" >>>
 
>    should add that this man was a Vietnam Vet, ex-Marine; that is, trained
>    by the best to be dangerous.  (No, NOT crazy because a Vet; just
>    coincidence.)
 

	They why even bring up the fact that he was a Vietnam Vet or
	a Marine, then?  

	Why do you say coincidence?

	Explain please?
   
	
	

    I put in the comment in parens specifically to try to avoid this kind
    of misunderstanding... sorry if I was not clear.
    
    I meant to point out that the crazy and the Vet do not go together by
    definition; merely that in this particular case they occurred in the
    same person.
    
    My own opinion is that he started out crazy.  I met his 16-year-old
    little brother, whose idea of a good time was to go steal a Caddy from
    the parking lot of an expensive restaurant.  The crazy's opinion was,
    'boys will be boys'.

	re.  .11 (Sara)

	Thanks for the explanation and for the mail.



	kits