Roommate went MIA
I signed a lease with my roommate and her guarantor (her father) as co-signers last August in NYC. In the middle of November, she went MIA and did not communicate with me nor the landlord. Then, she moved out without any communication and did not pay December's rent. She currently owes me ~$4k. I tried reaching out through calls, texts, and emails to her, her guarantor, other family members, friends etc. with no luck. The landlord has confirmed that she/her dad are opening the emails but are not responding. Her coworker has confirmed she is fine and coming to work with no issues. For me to break the lease, everyone needs to sign the agreement. The terms of breaking the lease is roughly 3.5 months rent and losing the security deposit, or ~$20k. To make things equal, she would owe me ~$14k, not including other damages.
The lease states joint and several and I have proof that we stated we would split things evenly. After several attempts, she replied once later in December stating that she will not surrender the lease unless the landlord and I waive all rights of seeking payment from her. I am currently working closely with the landlord about next steps and with their brokers to mitigate my risk by putting up ads for subletters. Although this is unlikely since the rent is $5,750 and most 2bed 2baths in Williamsburg are going for ~$4k. I showed good faith by paying the entire rent myself. I am unable to have anyone assume the lease because again she is not cooperating (needs her signature). The landlord stated he can start a case February 1, 2024. Everything communicated with the landlord has been over email.
I am curious to know that
(i) if I win the case at Small Claims, will the judge be able to rule anything about future payments, working a deal around breaking/assuming the lease?
(ii) if I strike a deal with management to break the lease and pay my portion and her portion upfront, will I be able to seek damages?
(iii) if the landlord starts the case and she continues to be uncooperative and ends up having to be "evicted", then is the lease broken? What happens to me (credit score, record, etc.)?
Edit: I wanted to share a follow up for those who kindly responded. I will be taking down this post in the future. I have consulted an attorney on this matter before making this post, but didn't ask these questions as I was concerned over other inquiries and filled up my free 30 minutes. It takes awhile to get an attorney on the phone, since New York Housing Law is very unique. Small claims court limit is $10,000 in New York and Civil court is up to $25,000. Generally, in either court, for that low amount of money, no lawyer will touch this case and since it is likely (it is) an emotional matter. The rate I was quoted was a flat $5,000 and ~$400/hr for about 10 hours. I followed up with another attorney with these questions and few others. Likely, I will try to negotiate with the landlord to break the lease, but there is no early termination clause, so it is completely up to the landlord. But, I do not require her signature. She already, technically, broke the lease by completely vacating the apartment. If not, I need to continue paying rent. I can rent out her room to mitigate damages, but I cannot just pay half the rent going forward. If I file a complaint against her, then it will have to be after the lease is over since a judge cannot rule on future payments and I cannot file multiple complaints on the "same" issue. Receiving the payment after the judgement is also a whole other issue that I hope will be solved amiably, otherwise I can pay a Sheriff to seize their assets in the amount owed. Reaching out to her manager would be considered harassment. My credit will go down after breaking the lease early. Some landlords do have a blacklist, so I may face more denials when seeking new apartments.
Notes: New York City Bar LRS is an extremely good resource to find free consultations.
Lol not your problem, her daddy signed as a guarantor. Legally he's on the hook for all of this. Depending on the state it may not even be legal for the landlord to come after you for this. Enjoy having the apartment to yourself. This is going to fuck both her and her dad's credit the longer they drag this out. So long as you're paying your part as listed in the lease agreement you should be in the clear.
Look into her background re claims made by landlords and past roommates. Something about this whole thing stinks.
This is not for WSO, seek a consultation with an attorney
Only one person has the incentive to act - you. Landlord cares about getting paid, not about suing her or following up with her. Do not believe everything the landlord is telling you. As for the former roommate, she is attempting to coerce/blackmail you. The fact that she is asking to be released from penalties implies she is aware she owes money.
You will have to do whatever is the cheaper option for you i.e., stay on as sole renter or pay lease cancellation penalty and pay rent at a cheaper place. With that said, check the small claims limit since your claim against her might exceed the small claims court limits. However, before you do anything else, consult an attorney to help resolve this stressful problem. Get the consult before you communicate again with the landlord, her, or her guarantor.
but he has a guarantor tho
You and your parents should consult with an attorney and sue the crap out of your ex-roommate.
Time to lawyer up
You live in New York... speaking as a landlord myself, isn't that state pretty landlord friendly, like up there with California "friendly"? I would not pay her amount of rent due. Her dad is listed as the guarantor so he's on the hook. You aren't. I'm shocked you paid her rent for her - and I'm sorry you did.
And I'd fight, kick, and scream rather than pay 3.5 months of rent just to cancel a lease because of her. I think that's the worst option ever. I've tried getting money from people before, and just because you take them to court AND the judge rules in your favor, it DOES NOT mean that you automatically get paid or even get paid soon. Usually if you win, there'd be a FIFA lien thrown on whatever she owns, and in this case since you live in NYC, she likely doesn't own a car or house, therefore there's nothing to throw a FIFA lien on.
iii) I can't help you much here.
This is all my extremely non legal and non professional advice. You probably need to pay an attorney maybe a quick hour or 30 minutes for some legal advice.
Her wages can be garnished or the guarantor sued.
So I looked into that situation once because my business partner stole money from me. You can indeed garnish wages, however unless you know the person's current bank routing number and bank account, doing so is extremely difficult. Good luck getting the bank or the defendant to provide you with that information.
At least that's the way it was in the state of Georgia. I'm not sure how things operate in New York.
Bump... interested in seeing where this goes. Keep us updated if you take legal action.
Do not believe the landlord - they can/will say anything to get their money. Your roommate is also trying to get out of this scotch-free through the "wave all rights" - which is bullshit. At the end of the day, her dad signed as a guarantor so they are on the hook. They are just trying to get you to think you are on the hook for their expenses.
Agree with other comments - get a lawyer.
Contact her manager at work. This is highly frowned upon in the corporate world. It may get her to pay.
If it's a joint contract then the landlord has the right to claim her part from you and there's nothing you can do about that because those type of issues should preferably be carefully considered before signing. So to answer your questions:
(i) - No, there would be no ground for that because it's a joint contract.
(ii) - First, don't pay upfront, there's no benefit in that, on the contrary, it couldn't even prove that you have no difficulties covering her part so the landlord may come pressing you more than her. It may also instill the idea that you accepted your faith and somehow you're happy paying for the entire apartment because you want to be the only one using it; you never know what type of arguments could they use to defend themselves. And yes, you could claim damages, it's bad faith from her side - discuss it with an attorney.
(iii) - Nothing, if the lease ends up prematurely then you'll pay only your part and the landlord will be responsible for finding another tenant, but I doubt this will happen because of (i). Another scenario would be you paying the entire lease to fulfill the contract and then you'll bring a claim on her to get a refund for paying her part.
Please, take actions and go to a court. I'm sure that they ignore you, including her dad, because they are aware that is a joint contact and they think you're too stupid to know how to proceed. Don't let them step on you. Usually if you win the case they defendant pays the plaintiff's lawyer, so don't worry about costs.
not legal advice tho
As someone who's been on (an admittedly very sweet rent stabilized lease) with roommates there's always danger there. I was lucky I could easily turn around and sublet to make myself whole. (we were WAY below market) Collecting any back rent is a nightmare. If it doesn't show up on time, assume you're never going to get it. This is a very sh!**y situation, but continuing to pay is only delaying the inevitable and bleeding your savings dry.
As others have suggested, you know where she works, you could contact her manager, and maybe even feign ignorance asking if she's ok, hasn't been seen nor paid her portion of rent for X months, etc. and cause a world of pain for her, but that might be considered harassment and come back to bite you.
Also, don't assume the landlord has your best interests in mind. They have two concerns in this situation: 1. That they get paid on time, and 2. that the apartment doesn't get trashed. Fixing your situation doesn't even register on their radar from a business standpoint.
In all honesty, I see two logical ways forwards:
1. Contact a lawyer
or
2. Go on Amazon and buy this: https://www.amazon.com/LubeLife-Personal-Lubricant-Lube-Parabens/dp/B07… You're going to need it.
I made an alt account just for this thread because it is so mind-numbingly stupid. You're an investment professional, which is inherently a decision-making and judgement business. Yet, your judgement is astoundingly poor. You're a autistic baboon for not consulting an attorney immediately. You're an autistic baboon for doing all of the above without consulting an attorney. You're an autistic baboon for posting on WSO before consulting an attorney. You're already out thousands of dollars and you've had months to think this over and resolve this and you decide to come post on WSO instead of consulting an attorney. You autistic baboon, I definitely want you investing my capital.
GO SPEAK TO AN ATTORNEY GO SPEAK TO AN ATTORNEY GO SPEAK TO AN ATTORNEY GO SPEAK TO AN ATTORNEY
we found the guarantor aka her dad
That's aggressive.
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