Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

tenant refusing to pay rent

To whom it may concern,

I thank you for taking the time to answer my question.

I recently moved into an apartment with 3 other female students. There is a disagreement concerning rent. With 3 tenants, the rent was $1750. To add on another tenant, the landlord said the rent would go up. We decided to add a fourth person, which we will call person x. Before person x signed the lease we told her that her rent would increase b/c of the fee for adding additional roommates, but at the time we did not know by how much. She agreed to these terms and signed the lease. Her rent for the first week started at 525$, however the expected increase raised her rent to 550$. When the rest of her roommates informed her that she now needed to pay 550$ a month, she refused! She claimed that she was never told that the rent would increase and is now threatening to move out without paying for any part of her month's rent. She has sought legal consultation and was told that she would be allowed to move out with out paying for anything. I need advice on how to handle this situation and was wondering if we are going to be able to legally get her to pay her portion of the rent?

Thank you again.


Asked on 9/22/00, 8:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Ken Koury Kenneth P. Koury, Esq.

Re: tenant refusing to pay rent

If she signed a lease, she can be held to it. I'm assuming by the way your question is worded that all of you, including the one who skipped out, assigned to the lease. In this case, the landlord has the right to collect the rent from any or all of the tenants. If the rest of you are paying her share, then you have the right to take her to court and make her pay her contribution.

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Answered on 12/17/00, 3:34 am


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