Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
I have moved out of an apartment after a 1 year lease in California with three former roommates. Two roommates in particular (a boyfriend and girlfriend) caused alot of problems while we were living there: from having underaged kids drinking and smoking marijuana; to selling drugs out of the aparment, to leaving the place a mess. Because of the mess left in their room, common areas they destroyed, and staying 3 days past the end of our lease, our security deposit was not returned, and instead, we owe the apartment about $400. Since we all left on bad terms, the roommate who is responsible is not responding to any requests to pay, resulting in the apartment contacting me and the other roommate seeking payment. I am in the process of looking for another apartment, and I do not want any negative information on my rental credit history. If me and the other roommate pay for the deposit, the roommate responsible gets off scott-free. What are our options? Can we take the other roommate to small claims court to reclaim the money if we happen to pay?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Sure you can sue him for the amount of damage he caused that the two of you had to pay for, but since he is a deadbeat how are you going to get any money from him? I assume he has no assets worth anything. From the landlord's view point, legally each one of you is responsible for the entire amount of the damage and he can go after anyone of you for payment.
Sorry for Mr. Shers' unhelpful answer. If you want to keep a clean record and have the wherewithal to pay, your best option is definitely to square with the landlord and then go after the dirt-ball ex-roommate. Small claims would be the way to go. Mr. Shers is right that your chances of recovery may be small, but so is the amount in question, and it's probably not worth ruining your credit over, is it? The landlord does have the right to collect from whomever he chooses, so you'll probably wind up paying anyway. Just hope you can collect from the dirt ball.
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