If my roommate has not paid her rent for last month, what are my rights?
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If my roommate has not paid her rent for last month, what are my rights?
My roommate failed to pay her rent for this previous month and my rent check was returned because they don’t accept partial payment and the tenant has began court process. When asked about payment for last month she acted as if she had paid it. I called the office to verify and they told me her part had not been given and court and eviction process had begun. This is supposed to be last month at the residence and had given roommate 30 days notice prior to this situation.
Asked on December 2, 2011 under Real Estate Law, South Carolina
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
It seems that unless your roommate fulfills her obligation under the lease that you both have with your landlord that you will be penalized with an eviction even though that you tendered your half of the monthly rental. That is the problem when a tenant rents a unit with another roommate and the lease does not state that each tenant pays so much per month.
If it did, then the tenant that does not pay his or her share is penalized, not the tenant that is responsible.
In your situation, I would write your landlord a letter stating that you tendered your share of the rent but it was refused. Keep a copy of the letter for future reference. If you want to stay at the rental, then you need to tender your amount as well as your roommate's share if she is unable to do so.
If you do this and your roommate fails to reimburse you, your recourse against your roommate is small claims court.
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