Cheap Temp Options for Wifi + Issues of Nonpayment
October 24, 2018 10:58 AM Subscribe
What are my cheapest options for getting temporary wifi? And how do I ensure that my roommate doesn’t skip out without paying the last month’s rent?
My roommate is currently staying with his girlfriend. A few weeks back he helped arrange for me to take over the lease in December when he officially moves. Until then, we split the cost of wifi, but the account is his. I paid him my share for the last two months a long time ago. But about a week ago it stopped working. I tried contacting him several times during this period, and briefly got worried that something had happened to him. But I see social media signs that he is out and about, even though he has not responded to me. So, finally, it occurred to me to open up one of the wifi bills and call the company myself, using his account number. It turns out he has not paid the bill for 2 months.
All of his stuff is still in the apartment, which is problematic because I’m showing his room to replace him, and his bedroom is the most crammed of all, so it doesn’t show well, and can't easily be beautified as is. I’m also starting to worry that he’s going to try to come back and get his stuff when I’m out and skip out on paying the last month of rent. If he does that, the landlord will come after me for it, which I can’t afford right now. During our discussion with the landlord, the roommate had offered to roll over his security deposit to me and then I’d pay him back rather than cough up many thousands up front for the landlord. But now I wonder if he wanted to let the last month go, and just stop paying altogether, and that allowed him to justify it to himself.
I’m pretty sure that the roommate is hard up right now. But it would only be $100 (or half of what he owes) to keep the wifi — that I paid for — on for me. In terms of character my roommate has a long history of promising more than he delivers. He is both charming and a very slick talker.
Meanwhile, I’m busily cleaning up after him. The yard, parts of the apartment are atrocious, full of trash, rust, grime, and so on — I mean egregious amounts. At the same time, I'm also on the verge of possibly landing a very big deal job for me. The whole lease situation was very unexpected, and I’m extremely broke. Prepping to attract new tenants comes with deadlines, and stern expectations from the landlord who made some unusual financial concessions to lease to me, egged on by my roommate. All of this adds up to extreme stress, and another month or two till I’m on the other side, assuming timing, luck, and the job Gods are on my side.
So here are my questions:
(1) What, if anything, can I do about my roommate? If he were broke and honest about it, it would be one thing, but I know if I do see him again, he’ll just try to fast-talk his way out of it.
(2) What are my cheapest options for getting replacement wifi (by cheap I mean $20 or $30)? I’ve already used up all of my regular hotspot, and am now on the 1982 variety. I tried buying more hotspot but my provider doesn’t work that way unless I change my grandfathered, and very cheap, plan.
(3) If you’re a New Yorker, when do people start looking for roommate shares? I have ads up in several spots, but the response for a December rental has been slow so far.
Soooo, in among answering my questions, if you can think of anything soothing to say, please do — I’m so stressed out.
My roommate is currently staying with his girlfriend. A few weeks back he helped arrange for me to take over the lease in December when he officially moves. Until then, we split the cost of wifi, but the account is his. I paid him my share for the last two months a long time ago. But about a week ago it stopped working. I tried contacting him several times during this period, and briefly got worried that something had happened to him. But I see social media signs that he is out and about, even though he has not responded to me. So, finally, it occurred to me to open up one of the wifi bills and call the company myself, using his account number. It turns out he has not paid the bill for 2 months.
All of his stuff is still in the apartment, which is problematic because I’m showing his room to replace him, and his bedroom is the most crammed of all, so it doesn’t show well, and can't easily be beautified as is. I’m also starting to worry that he’s going to try to come back and get his stuff when I’m out and skip out on paying the last month of rent. If he does that, the landlord will come after me for it, which I can’t afford right now. During our discussion with the landlord, the roommate had offered to roll over his security deposit to me and then I’d pay him back rather than cough up many thousands up front for the landlord. But now I wonder if he wanted to let the last month go, and just stop paying altogether, and that allowed him to justify it to himself.
I’m pretty sure that the roommate is hard up right now. But it would only be $100 (or half of what he owes) to keep the wifi — that I paid for — on for me. In terms of character my roommate has a long history of promising more than he delivers. He is both charming and a very slick talker.
Meanwhile, I’m busily cleaning up after him. The yard, parts of the apartment are atrocious, full of trash, rust, grime, and so on — I mean egregious amounts. At the same time, I'm also on the verge of possibly landing a very big deal job for me. The whole lease situation was very unexpected, and I’m extremely broke. Prepping to attract new tenants comes with deadlines, and stern expectations from the landlord who made some unusual financial concessions to lease to me, egged on by my roommate. All of this adds up to extreme stress, and another month or two till I’m on the other side, assuming timing, luck, and the job Gods are on my side.
So here are my questions:
(1) What, if anything, can I do about my roommate? If he were broke and honest about it, it would be one thing, but I know if I do see him again, he’ll just try to fast-talk his way out of it.
(2) What are my cheapest options for getting replacement wifi (by cheap I mean $20 or $30)? I’ve already used up all of my regular hotspot, and am now on the 1982 variety. I tried buying more hotspot but my provider doesn’t work that way unless I change my grandfathered, and very cheap, plan.
(3) If you’re a New Yorker, when do people start looking for roommate shares? I have ads up in several spots, but the response for a December rental has been slow so far.
Soooo, in among answering my questions, if you can think of anything soothing to say, please do — I’m so stressed out.
Can you ask your neighbors to go in halvies on their wifi? That's worked well for me in the past.
I would assume you could extract his rent from his security deposit contribution with a small amount of math.
posted by bbqturtle at 11:10 AM on October 24, 2018
I would assume you could extract his rent from his security deposit contribution with a small amount of math.
posted by bbqturtle at 11:10 AM on October 24, 2018
Why temporary WiFi, instead of opening a new account in your own name?
posted by metasarah at 2:24 PM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by metasarah at 2:24 PM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
If you’re a New Yorker, when do people start looking for roommate shares? I have ads up in several spots, but the response for a December rental has been slow so far.
In my experience the NYC rental market is so tight that people only start looking for a spot when they're just about to leave their old one. People seldom start looking a month or more in advance for a room share. Students are one exception to this rule, but their moving dates usually coincide with the start dates of academic terms (August/September and January/February). December is slow season for moves, generally, due to all the holidays -- that doesn't mean you won't find a roommate, but it does mean you're only likely to start getting replies closer to the room-is-available date.
posted by halation at 2:53 PM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
In my experience the NYC rental market is so tight that people only start looking for a spot when they're just about to leave their old one. People seldom start looking a month or more in advance for a room share. Students are one exception to this rule, but their moving dates usually coincide with the start dates of academic terms (August/September and January/February). December is slow season for moves, generally, due to all the holidays -- that doesn't mean you won't find a roommate, but it does mean you're only likely to start getting replies closer to the room-is-available date.
posted by halation at 2:53 PM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
December is, in my experience, the worst time to find renters. As for wifi, see if you can get a connection to nycmesh.
posted by Obscure Reference at 3:02 PM on October 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Obscure Reference at 3:02 PM on October 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
Since you haven't taken over the lease yet, I am not sure non-payment for the last month is your problem. I'd check with whatever free legal aid is available and see what your position will be when he inevitably skips out--since he's already stolen your share of the internet payment.
I don't see any way that you can control whether he skims in and gets his stuff. You are probably lucky if he doesn't steal anything of yours while he's there.
I assume if you try to get your own internet connection they'll try to get you to bring his account up to date first. Offering to split with a neighbor is probably much easier. Good luck.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 4:16 PM on October 24, 2018
I don't see any way that you can control whether he skims in and gets his stuff. You are probably lucky if he doesn't steal anything of yours while he's there.
I assume if you try to get your own internet connection they'll try to get you to bring his account up to date first. Offering to split with a neighbor is probably much easier. Good luck.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 4:16 PM on October 24, 2018
Could you change your posting to be for November and see if roommate would want to move out earlier?
posted by jaksemas at 9:03 PM on October 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by jaksemas at 9:03 PM on October 24, 2018 [2 favorites]
You could use a 4G hotspot to get WiFi but they tend to be expensive (or have low download limits). The cheapest thing is probably to pay the bill and get the internet back online and hope your flatmate pays you back. Even if he doesn't it's probably not much more expensive than using a hotspot. You will need to get the account moved to your name when he moves out any way so start that process now. This will need his cooperation but maybe he'll be more cooperative if you only need him to sign the paperwork and don't ask for any money (at that point).
posted by the long dark teatime of the soul at 3:41 AM on October 25, 2018
posted by the long dark teatime of the soul at 3:41 AM on October 25, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
WRT your roommate, it is certainly best arrange this all legitimately, especially the security deposit. Based on your description of the place parts of that $ will surely be claimed by the landlord whenever the place is vacated. You may not be able to front the deposit $$ yourself now, but can you afford to lose some/all of it later? If the sketchy roommate will cover it for you now, that means it won't be HIS money that's lost when the lease is over- it will be yours, based on his damage!
posted by TDIpod at 11:08 AM on October 24, 2018