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Housemate doesn't clean up after himself. Help.

dunkadunc — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:58:24 -0800

My housemate doesn't clean up, like ever. How can I do to make things work, or at least more bearable? I've been sharing an apartment since the beginning of September with an old acquaintance, and everything's been going well enough. EXCEPT:
My housemate doesn't help out with the cleaning. Every day I come home to even more mess, and it's starting to really bug me.

Some background here: My housemate and I are both 23, male, and college seniors. We went to high school together but lost touch after graduation. I was looking for a housemate for an apartment I found this August, and a mutual friend said Housemate (whose mom died last year) was looking for a place as well. We signed a lease, moved in and started school, so far so good.
The first hint I got that Housemate wasn't very good at cleaning was about a week in when he asked me what "rinsing" dishes meant. Since then, he's remained pleasant, but the amount of housework he's done has gone from little to almost none.

The main problems:
-His dishes stay dirty in the sink either until I wash them or there are no more clean ones, whereupon he washes a dirty one, uses it, and puts it back in the sink. The same thing goes for pots and pans. I can count the number of times he's washed all the dishes in the sink on one hand, and even then they've come out covered in brown curry grease and needed to be washed again.

-When asked to wash his dirty pots and pans that were filling up the sink, Housemate was surprised that I would want them to be cleaned even if I wasn't immediately going to use them. Housemate said that he would wash them before he needed them again "only as a favor". He cooks about four gallons of curry every two weeks.

-Although he was willing to split the cost of a $50 vacuum cleaner, the only time he's picked up a broom was when he broke a glass. He's been leaving brown greasy globs of curry on all the kitchen surfaces and covers the floor in oil when he cooks. All these problems with cleaning up have carried over to the bathroom as well.

Apart from all this, he's been a decent housemate, asking if I want to watch cartoons or split a pizza or whatnot, or coming out to parties with me.
I've talked to him about washing dishes and cleaning up around the apartment, and he's always said "sure"- the problem is it doesn't end up happening. He tends to drink beers and watch cartoons when he's done with schoolwork and doesn't have anything to do, so it seems like a combination of procrastination and just not knowing how to run a household: his mom used to do all the housekeeping.

What can I do to encourage him to do his share of housework, or failing that, what can I do to minimize the amount of mess I have to deal with? Ideally, we would clean up after ourselves, and if someone else missed something then the other would clean it, no problem.
I don't want to be that passive-aggressive guy, but something's got to change, since I'd like to be able to have guests over without feeling embarrassed. I'd be tempted to only clean up after myself, but I'm afraid the apartment would be taken over by maggots.

Metafilter:Guidelines :: Apartment:???

yaymukund — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:40:08 -0800

What are some things you wish you knew (or were glad you knew) before you moved into your first apartment with roommates? I'm looking for methods of splitting up chores, cooking, finances, resolving disputes, and dealing with common problems.

Should I confront my roommate about overcharging me for rent?

lxs — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:28:48 -0800

I found out my roommate is overcharging me for rent - do I do anything? I recently moved into an apartment share with a roommate who has already been living in the apartment for about six months. I found an invoice today that contained the full rent amount, and it looks like I'm paying $100 more than what half of it would be each month. FWIW, I did not know my roommate before I moved in (we found eachother on craigslist), we're living in NYC, our apartment is rent-controlled, and the place is in her name.

I'm curious about the politics of roomshares, and whether I'm entitled to say something or not. Honestly, I most likely will not since the apartment IS rent-controlled and thus still a good deal, plus I do like my roommate and don't want to risk causing a situation awkward enough that I might want to move again. Regardless of what I'm inclined to do, I'm curious what the objective standard (if one could be said to exist) on these situations is - do I have a right to say anything? Is this common? Is it considered an unscrupulous thing to do, or just the way of the world when it comes to NYC apartments?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

How do you split stuff up when one person's not around?

bluefly — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:47:26 -0800

Should I ask my roommate to pay her share of the utilities when she was gone all month? My roommate is in China for the entire month. We usually split the bills 50/50 (electricity, internet, cable). She paid her rent for January, so that's not a problem. On the one hand, I can see that she shouldn't have to pay utilities because she's not around. On the other hand, neither of us is around very much some months, and I feel like in the end, it's all a wash. The internet and cable bills are a flat rate every month anyway no matter how much we use. What do other people do? Thanks.

Submitting 30-Day-Notice on Apartment

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:14:26 -0800

I am trying to end my tenancy in a month-to-month lease in Los Angeles, but the landlord says that submitting a 30-day-notice won't absolve me of any future responsibility if my roommate stays in the apartment. Please hope me! I would like to get out of my current lease by giving my landlord a written thirty days notice, which is what's required by law in California. However, my roommate would like to stay in the apartment so the management company is telling me that the notice would essentially be meaningless unless he is leaving as well.

I spoke with my roommate and he doesn't think he'll be able (due to laziness or whatever) to find a new roommate for January 1st, so I am trying to protect myself by having myself removed from the lease, which is what I understood the law to mean. I am already paying rent on two apartments (the current one and the new one) so I don't want to do that again in January in the event that he doesn't find another suitable roommate.

So my question is this - is there any way to force a removal of myself from liability unilaterally? Is this a situation where my roommate has to "turn his key" at the same time, as they saying goes. I just want to be done with the apartment and not be responsible for the rent after December 31st. It seems crazy that I cannot just give notice and be done with it.

I called the LA housing authority people and the guy I spoke with wasn't very helpful. This is time sensitive since today is the 1st of the month and any advice or input would be greatly appreciated. If anyone has any follow-up questions, you can email me at apartmentalrentalaskme@yahoo.com.

Thanks!

My roommate is giving me a concern

ictow — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 09:07:45 -0800

What should I do to protect myself from my roommate's mess? Three of us moved to Chicago two months ago. We all had different strategies of attack. I saved money beforehand so I could be unemployed and not worried. It's worked out. One roommate pounded the pavement to get two or three jobs. It's worked out. The third decided to rely on her charm and good luck. It hasn't worked out.

For October rent she had to get a loan from her mother. Beyond that she's in debt for another $500. She just got a job a week and a half ago, but won't be getting a paycheck till the end of this month. As such, she can't pay November rent. She has offered no solution to this, and doesn't seem to understand or care why it really worries me. She says she'll be able to pay both November and December rent on December 1st, but that's by no means a sure thing. I've insisted that she call our landlord and try to work something out, but so far all she's done is left a voicemail.

We're all three on the lease, and I just don't want to get screwed by her laissez-faire attitude to her own finances. So my question is: what do I do? Consider eviction a non-option, at least until December. Should I pay her rent and get stuck trying to get paid back? Should I leave it between her and the landlord? He's a nice guy, so I'm not worried about immediate repercussions, but this is all new to me. I'm not used to living with someone who can be so irresponsible.

Any/all advice welcome. Do what you can to calm these frazzled nerves.

Roommate he-said she-said results in us being short a quarter of the rent. Help!

malapropist — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:30:28 -0800

My roommate wants me to find someone to take her part of the rent, arguing that the people who took over my part of the rent really took over her part. She is threatening to simply not pay. We have one month (Nov) left on the lease. Her name, as well as mine and two other roommates' are on the lease. If she went ahead and didn't pay, how badly would this affect my credit? It's a long, boring, story but here it is:

Up until yesterday I was sharing a 2 bedroom apartment with three other people: I shared one room with Nader, while Obama and Biden shared the other. All four of us are on the lease, which will be up at the end of this month, November.

About two weeks ago, our neighbors were evicted, a couple named McCain and Palin. Nader invited them to stay in our dining room until they found somewhere to live. Right around this time I decided to move out. At first I talked to McCain and Palin about taking over my portion of the rent, but they were tight with money and couldn't commit to anything. So I posted a craigslist ad, but didn't get any luck with someone moving in.

A few days after I started talking about replacing myself and moving out, Nader starts talking about moving into a vacancy in a neighbor's apartment, which would be cheaper than the share she paid with us. She talked to McCain and Palin about taking over her portion of the rent, and for about the last week things have been very vague. They weren't sure if McCain and Palin would take over the whole room that I and Nader share, or if McCain/Palin were going to take over Nader's portion, or if McCain and Palin were going to move upstairs with Nader.

Finally, on maybe Saturday or Sunday, Nader told me that she was going to have McCain and Palin take over her part of the rent, but it was already the 1st or 2nd of the month, and rent is late on the 4th. I wasn't having any luck getting out of the place, and Nader, McCain and Palin hadn't gotten their share of the rent in, so I approached McCain on the 2nd about moving into my half of the room.

He told me he could get me the rent money if I was willing to pay for it and let him pay me back. I was pretty desperate and the rent was only 325, so I went ahead and made a money order (the only way our complex accepts rent) and gave it to Obama, who handles the rent. He gave me 50 on the spot, promising another 100 yesterday and the rest on Friday. I went ahead and wrote up this arrangement in plain English, with both of our names on it, and had him sign it. At the time, I thought I should do this in case he didn't make with the rent money, I wanted to have a paper record.

The next day, the 3rd, yesterday, he shows up with all of the rest of the rent money. He hands it to me, and I start packing. But Nader also starts packing. In fact, she moves all her stuff upstairs to the neighbor's house. By the time I'm ready to leave, she realizes that McCain and Palin are not taking over her portion of the rent, but mine. She gets really pissed off at me and won't talk to me.

Later on in the night, after I had left, she calls me and our conversation soon turns into yelling. She claims that this is my responsibility and that I had better find someone to replace her and in the meantime I need to pay the rent so there is no late fee (because remember the rent is late as of the 4th, today), and that if the fourth portion of the rent (which I argue is her portion) is not ready to be paid, then I should pay the late fee ($50) as well. I told her that I had everything in writing, it was my name on my portion of the rent, and there was a written agreement between me and McCain/Palin.

Nader is threatening to leave the rent hanging, and talking to the management company they make no distinction between my, Nader's, Obama's or Biden's rent, they just want it all in, including the $50 now.

Like I said, all four of our names are on the lease, including Nader's, because even if McCain and Palin had taken over her rent, it was unofficial, they're just subletting and Nader's name is still on the lease. Of course, that is still true of me. And I don't want to get fucked.

Now, I can't tell if Nader would be willing to just filch on the rent if her name is on the lease, but if she did, what would be the repercussions? Would this screw up my credit? I can't really tell from google searches.

I do have a few more people on craigslist inquiring about the half-room that is available, but in case they continue passing on the place I'm really worried.

Short summary: one month left on the lease, I and someone who is unwilling to pay but still staying in the apartment complex (right up the stairs in fact) are both on the lease, what legal obligations and repercussions are there if I simply say, "I got someone to pay my part of the rent, and this is not my problem any longer"?

This is in southern California, by the way. Thanks.

PS: As I was writing this Obama called me and told me that non-payment of rent will result in a dark stain on our credit forever and a bill of $500 due on each of us on top of the rent we owe. Must be in the lease. Sound legit? I really don't know with these people.

Utility bills to my roommate and my credit score.

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:36:57 -0800

How do Utility Bills addressed to my roommate affect my credit score? Both of our names are on the lease. However, all utility bills are adressed to my roommate. Our subletters missed a ton of payments this summer, and we got all sorts of mean letters about shutting off our gas/cable. Is my credit at risk if all of these letters were addressed only to my roomate?

I am in NY State, and letters were from ConEd and TimeWarner. Thanks, all.

Potential roommate issues. Am I out of line here?

decrescendo — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:08:34 -0800

I'm planning on moving to DC with a guy I've been friends with since junior year of college (3 years ago). I graduated and immediately accepted a position and have worked in said position for one year and am now moving on to another one. For that same year, he sat around at home and was too lazy to find an engineering job and worked a few $10 an hour construction jobs. I'm having mixed feelings about getting a place with this guy. We both want to live in similar areas and rent is expensive, so it just makes sense. He's not a bad guy at all. He's my friend after all. However, I feel that he might end up leeching off of me. Everything he owns fit in the trunk of his car and he has lived at home since college and I have had a nicer-than-average apartment filled with nicer-than-average stuff. I've matured a lot since college and have entered the real world and he has just sat around at home and gotten drunk. Should I be worrying about the fact that I feel like I'm going to be supplying everything from the couch, to the TV, to the kitchenware in this apartment? I already own everything needed for apartment living and he owns nothing. Once we move in, he'll end up not having to buy a damn thing. Is my thinking out of line here? He's not a bad guy but he's so damn lazy (see first paragraph) that I feel like I'll be the one buying/supplying everything and pulling his ass along (which, in my opinion, isn't fair). Any advice to prevent this or prevent this type of thinking on my part? Thanks in advance.

Roommate dating

Anonymous — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 09:54:22 -0800

I'm dating a roommate, but we need an excuse to go into her bedroom after a date. What can I do? She seems to really like me, and we've been going out for a couple of weeks. She's also one of my roommates, but only for a little while longer as she has to go back to the US. There are five students living in this apartment.

She has a room with a door, the rest of us have low walls in a loft setup (this means my room is a no-go).

I'm not sure how to carry the relationship from kissing outside her bedroom door to go inside it. I don't know if coming out with "can I sleep with you tonight?" is a smart thing to say or not. What should a guy do in this situation? Should I just take her by the hand and go in with her?

I feel that she is interested, but is too shy to make a move- especially as there are no convenient excuses like "you have a long way to walk home"... my bedroom is just a few feet away.

Am I responsible for my roommate's bills if I move?

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:39:17 -0800

I am moving out before our lease expires. Am I liable for the rest of our future bills? I cannot stand my roommate. I am moving out of our shared two-bedroom apartment a couple of months before our lease expires. I have not told him yet.

Both of our names are on the rental agreement, but only mine is on the bills, and he pays me back his equal share of them.

Our rental agreement states that the tenants are responsible for all utility bills except water.

The agreement also says that if tenants move out before their one-year-long lease expires, they are responsible for giving the landlord the rest of the rent that they owe. It does not state what should occur with the utility bills in such a situation.

I do not think I should be responsible for helping to pay for my soon-to-be ex-roommate's electricity and gas and whether he is able to foot the bills on his own is of less than zero concern to me.

What do you make of this? Does this mean that if I move out before our lease expires, I can hand the landlord the rest of the rent that I would owe until then, and stick my roommate with the bills? If so, how can I transfer them to his name if he refuses to take responsibility for them, especially since I do not know his social security number?

Advise a SF renter?

aladfar — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:20:28 -0800

Advise a San Francisco renter? I've about 6 weeks left on my current lease, and just had a new roommate move in. Rather than tack him on to the remaining time, my landlord would like to scrap the previous lease and have us sign on for a year. I've a feeling my roommate would prefer that as well. I, however, don't wish to be committed that long. So, I'm thinking I'll push for a 6 month lease - the same term as my last agreement. But I suspect I'll want to move sooner than that, perhaps as early as 3 or 4 months. I've come to realize that I'd much prefer my own place, and should be able to swing it financially.

I think the best strategy would be to tack the new roomie onto the current lease and then go month to month when it expires (I believe tenants have that right here in SF). But I suspect that will generate more than a little ill will.

Any advice on how to handle the situation would be much appreciated!

Roommate filter: help me find a roommate

Cogito — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:31:16 -0800

What are some good roommate matching services? I need to find a roommate to move in in August because my landlord wants me to re-sign now and my current roommate is leaving. I've heard good things about roommates.com, but it only allows you to advertise rooms available in the next 120 days. This is an annoying situation, but seems to by typical for living in a college town. Roommate Nation looks kinda sketchy, but I could be wrong.

If it makes any difference, I live in Iowa City; I'm a late 20s male professional and I'm looking for someone similar. It doesn't matter if they're male or female. A student would be OK, but not ideal.

Am I obligated to help my now-distant roommate find a sublessee?

John Singer Sandwich — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:30:47 -0800

My roommate moved hundreds of miles away. Am I obligated to help find someone to sublease from him? About a day or two before my roommate moved out of the apartment, he did some work trying to find someone to take over his half of the rent. He found a couple of people on Craigslist, and made a good-faith effort to meet them before he left town, but he had to go without securing a deal with anyone since his flight was already booked.

Now he's indicated that he wants me to facilitate a sublease for him, and has passed it all onto me. He gave my phone number to the prospective Craigslist people and instructed them to call me to set up times that they can come by and look at the apartment.

But hey, I'd like to live alone. And my roommate has said that he would be able to pay the rent for the place he moved into and continue to pay the rent for the apartment here, if need be.

One of the prospective people called me today. Am I obligated to call him back? To arrange a showing? To invite this stranger to live with me, on my far-off roommate's behalf?

Roommates

Lieber Frau — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:06:28 -0800

Why can't these two lesbos find a roommate in Lincoln Park, Chicago? And what should we do about it? A month ago, my girl and I moved to a great new place in Lincoln Park, Chicago, and we're baffled as to why we can't find willing roommates. We've met many people, and we got along quite well with the majority of them. I've posted a sign on our door, an ad on Craigslist, and an ad in the Chicago reader, but after relatively few replies and some visits, no one has wanted to move. What am I doing wrong?

Is it because we homos are demographically rare in this posh hood, and potential roommates would feel strange living with dykes? Is it just an odd time to move? Does everyone want to move to hipper, "grittier" neighborhoods, now?

We really need a roommate, pronto. Is there anything else I can do, besides putting the word out to friends and coworkers?

I posted my Craiglist ad above for your opinions and suggestions.

I want my old rental rate back

missmle — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:39:01 -0800

Can I get my old rental rate back if my roommate moves? I signed a 1 year lease on an apartment in January. I got a roommate in March, and as part of the agreement my rent went up 10% and we had to sign a new lease with both of our names on it as well as the new rate. This new lease began the 1 year leasing period over from the date it was signed. Well, my roommate can no longer pay rent and has to move out. I plan to stay but was wondering if I can ask the leasing company to allow me to sign a new lease and get my old rental rate back. Do landlords usually do this? Also, am I going to suffer since my roommate has to leave and is therefore breaking his part of the lease? I can't find anything related directly to this in the leasing agreement.

Splitting the rent

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 15:54:16 -0800

Splitting the rent evenly even though the situation isn't even? I moved into an apartment as a roommate to someone who was living there for a month already. We are splitting the rent evenly, but she has the master bedroom with a bath and large closet connected. I have a much smaller room and bathroom in the hall. I only found out recently that it is common for the person in the master bedroom to pay a little more than the other person. I don’t know how much more money is determined though.

I would like to bring it up to her but I don’t know if have a right since I never brought it up before signing the lease with her. The lease is 6 months so maybe I could ask after 3 months if I can have the master bedroom for the last half of the lease? Or is it too late since we didn’t work it out in the beginning?

My office needs new meaning in life!

palegirl — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 09:04:11 -0800

What should I do with my office/second bedroom? I don't use it and would love for it either generate revenue or be useful to me. I live alone in a wonderful, beautiful 2 bedroom apartment. 1 1/2 bedrooms you might say. The second bedroom is 6 1/2' by 8', has it's own thermostat and one window but no closet. It's separated from the kitchen by a pocket door. The location and neighborhood are awesome, the landlord is awesome, newly renovated, new appliances, washer & dryer, and I have a driveway parking spot I don't use.

I'm open to getting a roommate, and have not posted on craigslist or anything yet, but have shown it to a few friends enthusiastic about living with me... until they saw the actual room. So I'm nervous that nobody would want to rent the room. Is there a particular demographic that I should target? Please don't say undergrad students, I really don't want a kid living with me. I'm 28.

But maybe there's another creative solution? Aside from getting a roommate to live in it, would someone pay me money to use the room? How can I find that person?

OR! If it's not likely that I am going to generate any rent from the space, what should I do with it, how can I best enjoy it? The apartment has great, large common spaces, every room is big: the living room, the gorgeous dining room (my favorite room) my bedroom, and the kitchen. I have lots of storage already (big utility closet, closet & built in hutch in the dining room, and bedroom closet.) Right now I have two desks, one in the dining room and one in the office, and I use the one in the dining room because it's a pleasant central space. And I don't really do any desk work anyway except pay bills.

I love my apartment, I feel like I'm wasting my office.

But I WANT to sign the lease!

purplefiber — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 11:53:29 -0800

Can my new landlord leave me off the lease? I'm moving into a new apartment soon. The two people who currently live there (roommate A and B) have been in the apartment for two years. The first year they cosigned a year long lease, and since then they have been month to month.

Now roommate B is moving away and I am moving in. They checked this with the rental agency, to see if we'd have to do an application/credit check for me. The rental agency said no, that they would make roommate A the sole tenant, and I would be a subletter from her. So they don't need to check any background on me, but basically I would have no rights to the place. If roommate A decides to move, I would have to move as well, or be subject to any kind of rent increase they wish to impose.

I want to be on the lease, both for the stability of rent control in the event that roommate A decides to leave, and also for reasons of building good credit. Do I have the right to insist on getting my name on the lease? Roommate A agrees that it would be best for us both to be on it. If I am to bring this up with the rental agency, should I do it before moving in, or a few months down the road, once they see that I'm a good tenant, pay rent on time, etc? We are in California.

Any advice much appreciated.

Can my female roommate sublet to a guy without my approval?

almostmanda — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 11:41:44 -0800

My roommate wants to move out, and has found some random guy to sublease. I'm not comfortable living with Random Guy. What can I do to keep this from happening? My roommate and I live in an apartment complex where we each sign our own leases. There's over a hundred apartments in the building. They'll typically match you with same-sex roommates if you don't have someone in mind already, but I'm pretty sure they will rent to opposite sex pairs and small families.

My lease was due to end in May, but I extended it to mid-August so I could hang around over the summer and get my bearings after I graduate. Her lease runs through August, but she wants to move somewhere else after graduating. Yesterday, she approached me and said "I found a subleaser! Do you want to meet him?!"

I like to think that I'm a fairly liberal, open-minded person (yeah, yeah, that's a red flag, I know), but the idea of living with a guy I don't know beforehand squicks me out more than a little. I'm just not comfortable with it. This thought apparently has not entered her head, but I was obviously not pleased when she was telling me.

I'm pretty confident that the apartment managers will be happy to let him take over her lease, but live in a different apartment (since they're college apartments, they tend to be pretty empty over the summer). Just in case, though, is there any legal backing to my stance? I can't imagine, with the religious right being what it is in mid-America, that one could be forced to live with someone of the opposite sex in order to run out their lease. Aside from that, is there anything else I could do to keep Random Dude out of my apartment? I'm not particularly religious, but I'm not above claiming to be to keep it from happening.

How do I not lose my apartment?

The Great Big Mulp — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 09:57:11 -0800

Last Thursday, my roommate told me he is moving out at the end of the month. What should I do? Now, the apartment is cheap, but it's a shithole in a bad part of town and is swarming with cockroaches, so I'm not getting much communication from people looking for a place to live. And I certainly can't afford the whole place on my own, as I am currently unemployed.

Anyway, I brought this issue up to the rental office, because both of us have separate leases, and he would have to give them at least 30 days notice before he moves. However, they lost their copy of the lease they have with him and could only find the lease they have with me. Furthermore, the lease they have with me was filled out while I was the only person living in this apartment, so it lists my rent at $660/mo as opposed to $330/mo.

Has anyone else been in this situation before? And, if so, is there any legal recourse I have, or am I just basically fucked? Oh! I'm in the state of RI.

How do I convince my roommate that we need a maid?

santry — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 09:29:36 -0800

Jimmy (my friend/roommate/landlord) and I both like to have a sparkling clean apartment. He thinks it's lazy and morally objectionable to hire a maid. I think my free time is valuable so I don't want to spend it cleaning bathrooms. Since cost isn't a concern, how do I convince my roommate that we should just leave the cleaning to the professionals and hire a maid? I live in an apartment with 2 other guys and we're all in our very late 20s. One roommate (let's call him Jimmy) is my best friend from college. He also owns the (whole) house. We'll call the other roommate Bradington.

None of us are very good about cleaning. The place isn't a sty, but real cleaning (vacuuming, dusting, washing the hardwood floors, etc.) happens only every couple of months. The kitchen stays pretty clean since we use it all the time. I'll admit that I'm the worst about cleaning. I don't enjoy it, so I 'm the last one to do it.

I've found a maid who will come for 3 hours every two weeks and, for $75 per visit, will make the place cleaner than it ever has been. She came once as a sort of trial visit and we all agreed the results were fantastic. Much better than we could ever do.

Jimmy (the friend/roommate/landlord) has a moral objection to hiring a cleaning service. He thinks it means we're lazy good for nothings and that we should just do the cleaning ourselves. The money isn't the issue. He also says that he enjoys cleaning, and that, for him, it's a good stress reliever.

My philosophy is that my time away from work is valuable and so spending hours out of every month vacuuming and cleaning bathrooms has a huge opportunity cost (i.e., I could be doing things that I enjoy, working on new projects, etc.). Couple that with the fact that professionals do a *much* better job and I think the maid service is a pretty compelling option.

Bradington, our other roommate, is on "my" side and thinks we should hire the maid.

So how do I convince Jimmy? Is there no convincing him? Since he enjoys it so much, should we work out some deal where he does some portion of the cleaning himself, and the maids do the rest?