Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Sure they can hold you responsible even if others have their name on the lease; each one of you agreed that the landlord would get X in rent a month. However, your roomate [change female to male gender] can not just remove her name from the lease and go without any further responsibility. She signed a contract and is bound by the terms of that contract unless the other side releases her. There often is a penalty charged by the landlord for early termination of the rental contract. But she also has a contractual dut to you to pay half the rent per month. You need to look for a new roommate or a much cheaper place to live. You can sue the ex-roommate for the damages she causes, but she probably has no assets but her pay chech and there are strict limits on how much you can get from it.