Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

First, the two of you should have had an understanding of what was going to happen BEFORE he moved his girlfriend into the house. Is she being added to the lease officially, and actually signing the lease. If not, she may not be liable to the landlord. As far as the percentage of rent, that is something once again, that should have been discussed before she moved in. In any event, if she is staying in your friend's bedroom, typically, you would normally be responsible for 50% of the rent, unless you were able to negotiate a better deal. This is much harder to do once she is already in the house. Having said that, you should only be responsible for 1/3 of the utilities, since there is now an extra person using those utilities.

BARRY BESSER

www.besserlaw.com

Mr. Besser's prounouncements to the contrary, there is no law on this subject. You have to agree on things yourself. I do, however, agree that generally people divide rent by rooms and utilities by head count. So they would pay 1/2 rent and 2/3 utilities in most roommate deals.

Well, there is law on the first subject. If the girlfriend signs the lease as a third tenant, and unless there are special provisions relating to her, she will be jointly and severally liable for the rent, along with the previous lessees.