Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with roommate and nyc

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.

Roommate in NYC

The1andonly — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:19:40 -0800

Thinking about getting a roomate to live in my apartment in NYC...Where are good places to find one, please tell me some of your New York Roomate stories, and how I could screen for people to move in my place? I currently live in a two bedroom apartment all by myself (it is a very nice Luxury here in manhattan). I have gotten into some debt and I thought that one of the good ways to get rid of it was to get a roomate at least for a temporary basis (i am thinking 3-4 months). I work a 9-5, and I am a part-time musician (the extra room currently has a recording set-up that I will have to take down)........I am worried about taking this step and would like to listen to all recommendations about how I can make the best of this situation....in fact if you think that it is a bad idea please say so (I also just got rid of my car and that will help a lot towards paying off my debt).

I am currently looking at craigslist as the main source to do this....are there any other places where I could find room-mates?

Thanks in advance.......

How do I best navigate through a bad landlord/tenant situation?

SeizeTheDay — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 23:07:32 -0800

Complicated, messy NYC roommate/landlord question: 4 roommates share a 3 bedroom converted into 4 (with permission). One roommate signed a lease for a new building without getting permission from current building to transfer name on lease to new roommate. Said old roommate now refuses to pay six months of rent (remainder of lease). Much, much more inside. So three out of 4 roommates want to get out of current lease by assigning the lease to new people. This was never a problem in the building before, but now building has new ownership, and they’re making this difficult/impossible.

Two roommates are unemployed and need to get out. One of two refuses to pay remaining 6 months of lease (even though he lied about his income and signed a new one year lease in NJ). Third roommate that wants to leave has signed a one year lease (in another building) starting in May.

Leasing agent for landlord will not give us a straight answer about assigning lease to other candidates. We gave management 3 very viable replacement candidates, including all application material. This morning one of the candidates was explicitly rejected by management because it was for the converted room (despite giving us (the current tenants) no notice of this). They refuse to comment on the other two applications.

I am one of the three that wants to move out. I am willing to pay my 6 months remainder of the lease to avoid credit problems, court appearances, etc. but (as I said earlier) one roommate refuses to pay the next 6 months and other two roommates refuse to cover the deadbeat’s share (and eventually sue deadbeat). Important note: landlord refuses to accept partial payments of rent, so if deadbeat doesn’t pay and we don’t cover his share, leasing agent won’t cash our checks.

Leasing agency refuses to break the lease. Deadbeat refuses to pay. And the third roommate that wants to leave (who signed elsewhere) is starting to think that he should refuse to pay as well and let them sue us all.

I don’t want to be sued. I want to pay my 6 months and get the hell out of this situation. Ideally, I want management to take the applicants we gave them to replace us, but if that’s not going to happen, I need to know what my best option is. Should I: 1) Refuse to pay and let them sue, knowing full well they’d sue anyway because deadbeat won’t pay. 2) Pay my rent and pray that they cash my check and understand the situation (I’m going to camp out in the office on Monday until they at least hear my case). 3) Promise the landlord a check for the full amount of my share if they leave me alone. 4) Something else?

What happens if they sue me? Will I be on the hook for the entire unpaid amount (which may be up to $30000, assuming no one pays ever from now until lease end)? Can I use old checks to prove I only paid x dollars/month and the judge will only require me to owe x? I really have no clue here.

I’m in NYC. I have contacted legal aid and lawyers. I will be speaking with a lawyer that specializes in this on Monday. But I don’t want to pay $300/hour given how ignorant I am of this situation, because that consultation would end up costing me hundreds alone. So before I go to the lawyer, I’d like some anecdotal and street advice about my options. Sorry for the length. ANY help at all is unbelievably appreciated right now. Thanks.

Help me not pay twice as much rent!

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 18:17:21 -0800

Moved out: roommate won't give me my last month's rent back. What do I do? The sequence of events -

1) I moved into a room into a two-bedroom apartment (this is in NYC), and signed a sublease agreement with the lease owner (my roommate). The sublease agreement was month-to-month. I paid him the first month's and last month's rent

2) After little more than a week after living there, I told my roommate that I wasn't staying, and that I was moving out. I posted notices up on Craigslist, and found him multiple people willing to take the room (he wanted to make the final decision).

3) I kept on living in the apartment for the next three weeks.

4) Fast forward to now: I moved out after a month, gave him the keys. I asked for the last month's rent back (since I paid two month's rent, but only stayed a month), and he told me that his financial situation was bad, and that he would only be able to give me $20 a month, unless things change or he gets a paying job (which I assume means that he doesn't currently).

On top of that, he told me that I was on the lease as well! I had never heard anything about this, nor had he told me anything about a lease, especially since the agreement was most certainly a sublease/sublet agreement. He said that he just went ahead and put me on the lease, since he thought I would be staying for a while -- but not to worry, since I didn't sign the lease, and so it's not valid. What??

I told him I'd have to think things over - $20 a month comes to a bit more than three years! I was also counting on getting this last month's rent, since my own financial situation isn't that great (credit card debts, etc).

What should I do? What are my options? Small claims? Quite honestly, I'm angry and annoyed, and $20 a month is pretty unreasonable. I know I should have talked to him earlier about this, but I feel like it's pretty obvious that if that I told him that I was moving out after a week or so, he would have set aside the second month's rent to return to me. Also, the thing about me being on the list is strange and kind of creeps me out...

I have an email account at: AskMeRoomateProblem@gmail.com (Yes, 'roomate' is spelled 'roomate'). Thanks, AskMe!

Sublettee responsibilitee?

suedehead — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 22:45:02 -0800

I was supposed to stay a year, but am moving out within the first month. I gave my roommate/sublettor three weeks' notice that I was moving out. Do I have to find a roommate for him? I'm not leasing, but subletting the room. The contact (signed by both parties) stated that it was a month-to-month contract, and doesn't state anything concerning any amount of notice for moving out. I paid the first and last month's rent upfront, and would like to get the last month's back in a civil manner.

My roommate is out of town until the 20th. I emailed my roommate telling him that I was leaving, right after the first week (the 8th). The roommate responded by saying 'let's talk later'. Today, I got a very curt one-line email asking me if I could "please work on finding a replacement?"

Is this necessary? As a subletter, what rights do I have? (I'm in NYC.) I'm of the opinion that since there was no minimum length of contract and since it was month-to-month, and since I gave more than enough notice, I shouldn't be the person responsible for looking for a replacement. At the same time, I want to know if this is the kosher 'thing to do'. I don't want to be evil, but I don't have time to look for someone either. At the same time, I want to get my last month's rent back. What should I do?