Ask Me Help Desk - 2 Questions

1st question is, I just found out about this Renters insurance by reading these forums today. Is it expensive? What's it cost a month? I really can't afford $200 if it's that high. And is it "THAT" important to have? What's it cover?
Ive never heard of this insurance till I found this site today.

2nd question is. I was told by someone like 3 hours ago I really should get my name on the lease,I live with my roommate and haven't been on a lease for about 15 years now.the last 2 landlords never said anything to me about it. If I do put my name on the lease would I have to pay the landlord rent also? I ask this is because I pay my friend $420.00 in rent and then he takes that and buys food,pays his half of the bills etc.

He does get money from SSD and his rent is paid by his case worker by a place called Confrence Of Churches automatically each month,he does get like $220 every 2 weeks out of that SSD check so he has some money during the month for food and some of his personal bills like credit stuff,car stuff etc.

Thank you inadvance for the help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesJB

1st question is, I just found out about this Renters insurance by reading these forums today. Is it expensive? whats it cost a month? i really can't afford $200 if its that high. And is it "THAT" important to have? Whats it cover?
Ive never heard of this insurance till i found this site today.

2nd question is. i was told by someone like 3 hours ago i really should get my name on the lease,i live with my roomate and havent been on a lease for about 15 years now.the last 2 landlords never said anything to me about it. if i do put my name on the lease would i have to pay the landlord rent also? i ask this is becasue i pay my friend $420.00 in rent and then he takes that and buys food,pays his half of the bills etc.

He does get money from SSD and his rent is payed by his case worker by a place called Confrence Of Churches automaticly each month,he does get like $220 every 2 weeks out of that SSD check so he has some money during the month for food and and some of his personal bills like credit stuff,car stuff etc.

thank you inadvance for the help.

Renters insurance prices vary depending on many things. Most insurance companies will give you a quote for free. It's importance is if your home was to be destroyed, it would cover your possessions. The owner's homeowner's insurance will not pay for your things.

I am not sure that he would still receive help paying his rent and such if you were on the lease. Does the place paying his rent know you live there? I know here in Missouri when someone gets rental assistance they have to turn in everyone in the household and their incomes.

Whoever is on the lease is responsible for the rent. How you paid it would be up to you. You could pay your roommate and he take it to landlord or you two could go jointly to the landlord and pay. Some places charge more for more people living there, some do not. That would depend on what the lease says.

Renters insurance is not expensive, generally less than $100/month. Shop around insurance agents for the best deal. Also talk to your roommate, its possible he has insurance that covers you or can cover you for a smaller fee.

Being on the lease protects you in case your roomie wants to kick you out or if something happens to the roomie and you find yourself alone. Right now your roomie is YOUR landlord and you his tenant. It does obligate you for the rental if the roomie can't pay. It should not change the payment routine, however.

Yes the place that does pay his rent out of his SSD check knows I live here and they never said a word to me about anything.

Oh OK I'm glad about that cause if I had to pay the real landlord anything I couldn't do it cause I only get around $600 a month.

I have renter's insurance and it costs less than 10 dollars a month. But then I live in an apt and not a house and maybe that is a difference. Call around for prices - it does vary.

No, you definitely would not have to pay the LL anything. He gets whatever rent he charges in total. Whether you each pay a portion of the rent directly to him or whether you pool your money and give him one payment doesn't matter.

I don't know whether you are paying half the rent he is paying or whether you are paying more than half. If you are, he may not want you on the lease and that is his choice not yours. Like I said, you are his tenant. You might want to enter into a lease with him instead of being on the property lease.

My friend and I live in a apartment building,there is 3 apartments here,we live on the second floor but the landlord wants us upstairs to live eventully.

I pay my friend the $420.00 a month wich he uses for bills and stuff. He gets a SSD check over $1000 each month wich gets automatically depostied at a account at Confrence of Chrches wich his case worker is the Rent payee.he gets around $220 every 2 weeks out of that account for spending money. I get around $637.00 a month from SSI. So I have around $150.00 left over after my rent,phone/cable internet is paid off.

I might be asking him if I could go back to $300 a month soon cause the only reason me and him agreed for me to give him $420.00 is because we used to get cigarette cartons all the time but now that I found a cheaper less expensive way to pay for my habit I may ask him if I could go back down to $300 a month. The thing I found that made it cheaper to pay for my habit is that I can make my own cigs,where you buy the tabaco and filters and the machine to make them. The bag of tabaco costs like 13.99 - 50 cents from a coupon,the bag of tabaco is like 2 cartons combined and it lasts me and my friend around 2 weeks. The box of filters cost $2.01 -20 cents with coupon. So all that is a whole lot cheaper than a $40.00 carton of smokes. The machine to make the smokes cost me like $8.00.

I so wish I found a cheaper way to buy cigs 2 years ago then I wouldn't of sold my XBOX plus games,PS2 plus games.GameBoy Advanced SE plus games,Nintendo GameCube plus games,all my music CDs. Man I only thought people on Crack did that stuff :( I so regret it now :(

Yes I know I should just quit but I tried that,I get very mean and snappy, I don't like when I get like that at all. Im like a kitten when I have my smokes but if I'm off them for more than a day I become like this rabid wolf when I'm off it,I'm like a whole different person. :( I tried the patches. I was going to try this pill they have out now but man it costs almost $100 a box for like 20 pils. Its insane lol. Society wants us smokers to stop smokeing but man they don't make it easy with the cost of the stop smokeing aids. :(

Im sorry for going off subject,please forgive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesJB

Yes the place that does pay his rent out of his SSD check knows i live here and they never said a word to me about anything.

Oh ok im glad about that casue if i had to pay the real landlord anything i couldnt do it casue i only get around $600 a month.

I apologize. I misunderstood your original post and thought that they actually paid his rent for him, not with his own money.

Like the other people on here said... being on the lease will protect you if ever you and your friend was in a disagreement and he wanted you to leave. However, it also makes you liable for the rent and care of the apartment. What I mean is if you all were to break lease and/or not pay rent, legal action would be against the two of you, not just your friend. If you all moved out and the landlord charged you two for any damages that was done to the apartment, you'd be responsible for those also, not just your roommate.

What I meant by rent increasing was, some landlords do charge more for two people instead of one, more for three than two, etc. The more people, the more "normal wear and tear" on the place. Not all do this, but some do.