Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Utah

Questions

I'm in a situation. A roommate moved out without giving notice and is now threatening to sue for ''unused'' rent back. Possible? Or can I sue her for not giving notice? She was never added to our lease, but I have emails she sent our landlord asking him if we could renew ''our'' lease for another yr. 2nd, she's refusing to pay her part of the final utilities. Is she responsible for bills up until she returned her keys and gave up access to the property or up til she moved her stuff out? 3rd, she claims she's gonna sue me for slander/defamation of charac. because I told friends/family what is going on with everything. 4th, she says I�m blackmailing her. She used MY laptop to upload naked pictures of her and her boyfriend and never deleted them. I found them on my computer. Online I was discussing the ''pics'' with my friend, the roommate says that is def. of charac. One friend joked and said I should exchange the pictures for owed utilities. I laughed and said it wasn't a bad idea, but never did. She is claiming blackmail. Can I be accused if I never even asked for anything? If she willingly uploaded the pictures onto MY computer and didn't deleted them, do I have claims to the pics since I am the registered owner of the computer?


Asked on 2/20/09, 12:40 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Alvin Lundgren Alvin R. Lundgren, L.C.

Re: Questions

If the roommate signed a lease, she is held to the terms and cannot arbitrarily terminate the lease. If there is no lease, she needs to give 30 days notice - and is responsible for rent and her share of bills. She cannot win a lawsuit for defamation if what you said is true. Blackmail requires you to demand something in exchange for the photos. If she does not pay what she owes, sue her in small claims court..

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Answered on 2/22/09, 12:28 am


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