Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Oregon

Roommate signed new lease/responsibility to original lease?

In May of 1996 my roommate and I signed a one-year lease on an apartment. The living situation became unbearable at which time I contacted the apartment rental office (Oct 1996) regarding being removed from the lease. They were very helpful and told me that if my roommate signed a new lease agreement in his name only, then I could move out without penalty. He signed a new lease and within three month he decided to move into a one bedroom apartment within the complex, and signed another lease for that apartment. He ended up only staying one more month in the complex when there was still two months left on the original lease that we had signed together. Now six years later I have been contacted by a collection agency that wants the remaining two months rent and $400 in interest. I would like to know if I have any rights in this matter. Since the old roommate leads a somewhat transient lifestyle, I am who they are going after since they cannot find him. Is this a case of faulty accounting or can they legally come back on me for this balance?


Asked on 1/15/03, 12:08 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Susan Burns Law Office of Susan Ford Burns

Re: Roommate signed new lease/responsibility to original lease?

There are several issues here - one is whether the landlord has a right to collect rent from you under the terms you outline and the other is when that right ends.

Oregon has a statute of limitations for contract rights that ends after six years. If the contract was signed in May 1996 and changed in October 1996, when you moved out, then that statute of limitations likely expired 6 years later, in October 2002. At the latest, the six years would start when your roommate moved out of the complex (which appears to have been February 1997?)

The first question, whether the landlord ever had a right to look to you for the unpaid rent would be based on the contract you signed with the landlord and whatever amendments were made when your roommate and the landlord changed that agreement after you left. Without seeing those documents, it is impossible to determine your respective rights.

Regardless of the contract, you are entitled to force the collection agency to prove that you owe this debt. You should give them a written demand that they provide proof of your liability.

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Answered on 1/16/03, 5:14 pm


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