Three of us signed a lease for a 3 bedroom apartment. All three of our names are on the lease. One of my roommates decided to bail without notice. We are unable to contact him an would like to have his name removed from the lease, however, or property manager says that this is not possible without his signature. We are unable to get his signature because he left us no forwarding info and we believe he has left the state. Is there anyway to have him forcibly removed from the lease agreement? We would like to move to a smaller until and this is not possible without all parties on the lease's consent.

Also, is it feasible to file a small claims case to recover his portion of the rent owed on the time that he was on the lease? He left without paying rent or utilities and we would like to recover this money.

Thank you

If the landlord refuses to modify the lease, you have problems. You may be able to locate the roommate by mailing a letter "service address requested" and the post office will send you his forwarding address. He owes you are your roommate what you are paying on his behalf, but there is almost no way you will collect if he has left the state. You must sue him where he resides. How practical would that be?