My friend was living in a 3 beedroom house and her lease was up for the year and needed 2 new roomates. My other friend and I decided to move in and we all signed a new lease. 4 months into the leas the original roommate decided to move out and went to a different city leaving myself and one other roommate in the house. The original roommate paied the rent she owed in full to the landlord before she moved however she stopped paying the utilities and myself and the other roommate were forced to talke over the bills. Question one is does he have to pay the utilities or because she paied the rent is she free and clear? Also she never returned the key instruted by the landlord because her name is on the lease which givers her access to the house... Can she have this? My second proble is the other roommate. As soon as the first roommate moved out the second one announced she might also move out because the rent was too much(even though it was the same because the first paied her's). She ended up having to stay because she had to compleat a class. However I am afraid that she will move out after the semester is over and leave me will all the ulitilites and the remander of the rent. If this happenes I know I can sue her for the rent but what about the utilities... and does it matter that we did not do anything legaly about the first roommate?

Hmm, well I guess she could argue that since she moved out, and paid her part of the rent she's in the clear. Technically she's not using the utilities, you are. She's not contributing the water and electricity being used so why should she pay anything. In theory these bills should be lower with only 2 people there.

As for the key, isn't this person a friend? Are you really worried she'll break in?

And yes, you can sue the second roommate is this person leaves and doesn't pay their portion of the rent. As for utilities, again, my guess is no, they're not responsible if they're not there.

I'm not a lawyer, the above just seems like common sense

If all three are on the lease, each of you is responsible directly to the landlord, not to each other. Unless the lease states otherwise. So, if roomie # 2 moves out, its up to the landlord to go after her, not you. On the other hand, the landlord can rent to anyone they choose, without your approval.

The 1st roomie is not rersponsible for the utilities after she moved out. As for the key, if that concerns you ask the landlord to change the locks. But legally, she has paid for the space so she legally has the right to access it.