Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Georgia

My roommate moved out 3 months ago after she lost her job. She left all her belongings behind. She has not payed rent since then and I gave her the option to come get her belongings multiple times now. I also offered her to take her name of the lease once she gets everything out of the apartment. Since then she has not moved anything out or showed any effort. I'm planing on filling her paperwork out this week to take her to small claims court. Because she has not moved her belongings out I can't have another person move in and I'm not able to pay her part of the rent. I'm getting close to getting evicted and I don't know what to do anymore. Am I in the right? Can I put her belongings in the trash so I can finally have somebody else move into her room? Can my apartment complex evict me if she was on the lease and she had her mother co-sign for her. (My mom co-signed for me). We do not have individual leases we are on the same lease but have different co-signers in case we are not able to pay the lease. I don't want her to mess up my credit and my mom's credit. I thought thats why we had different co-signers.


Asked on 8/21/11, 9:23 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Scott Riddle Law Office of Scott B. Riddle, LLC

Of course the landlord can evict you if full rent is not being paid as agreed (unless the lease states otherwise, which would be extremely rare). Everyone who signed the lease, and co-signers, are responsible for every penny under the lease. It is not the landlord's job to try to divide up responsibilities and they will go after everyone. This was the very risk everyone agreed to in the beginning, and before signing. You also have no authority to "take her off the lease" without the landlord's consent, and not many landlords will willingly let someone out of the obligation to pay rent, especially when it appears that rent is not being paid on time. The way to save your credit and home is to pay all rent as due. Don't throw anything in the trash until you absolutely need to move it when you get a roommate, and then tell the old roommate again to come and get it. Why make the situation worse? She certainly would not pay then, and it is still her apartment as much as it is yours. As long as she is on the lease, she will have access.

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Answered on 8/21/11, 9:55 am


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