Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Virginia

I am entangled in a joint and several lease agreement with 2 other people. One tenant did not inform us when his hours, and by extension his income, were cut in half. I was under the impression that his rent was being paid. I was informed on Feb 4th that he is 3 months behind and with late fees owes our landlord $2100. He can't pay it and due to the terms of the lease my other roommate and I are on the hook for the debt. If we pay his debt, do we have any legal recourse to force him to pay us back?

Additionally, he owes me nearly $500 in back utility payments. How ever the debt is paid we are still being made to vacate the house at the end of this month. This means that I will have to pay for a storage facility, movers to move my furniture/household items to the storage unit and then from the unit to wherever I end up living in a few months. I will also lose out on the $925 I paid toward the deposit because of the delinquent payments and minor damages my roommates caused. Based on average prices for movers and storage facilities and coupled with the lost deposit and debts my roommate owes I'm going to have to pay out over $3500. Please tell me there is something I can do!


Asked on 2/09/12, 10:09 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Yes, you and the other roommate could sue the defaulting one in small claims court for your so-called out of pocket expenses called compensatory damages

which would include his share of the unpaid accumulated back rents, the utilities, property damage and the loss of your security deposit arising

from the default.

However, your claims for reimbursement for the prospective costs involved with

movers and storage fees would most likely be considered consequential

damages and hence not recoverable under the circumstances described.

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Answered on 2/09/12, 9:03 pm


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