Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Massachusetts
My roommates and I all signed a lease stating that we would pay our rent in the total of $2,200 a month. I had only met one of the roommates prior to taking the room in the apartment, with the other two being chosen within the time that I saw the apartment and moved in. I had no say in who they were. One of the new roommates never paid their last months rent, and the current months rent check bounced, and he has left and we haven heard from him since. Now our landlord is coming after the remaining three of us for his portion of the rent. Do we as a group have any legal safeguards?
Overview:
The lease asserts that the four of us will communally pay one rent price, rather than 4 different prices.
I only met one of the roommates before moving in, as the others are newer than myself.
The ad listing and verbal agreement I was told about was that I would pay a portion of that, however the lease I signed was different. I didn't see the lease until a month into me living there.
The landlord talks to us on the phone before we accepted the room and screens us.
I have never met the landlord.
The roommate that left refuses to contact any of us, landlord and her attorney included.
The landlord is targeting all of us instead of specifically the roommate who like us signed the same lease and the bounced check.
1 Answer from Attorneys
I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but unless the lease specifically states that each is only responsible for his or her share, then any one or all of the tenants is equally responsible for the entire rent. You can be evicted and/or sued for the missing rent.
You should get a free consult with an attorney face-to-face who can spell out your options from here. One of those options is for the three remaining tenants to cover the missing rent and then sue the missing roommate in small claims court.
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