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VARenter4 · Jul 23, 2007, 08:46 AM

After fulfilling our year lease, my three roommates and I are on a month to month rental agreement. The term of our lease is from the 1st through the last day of the month, and we pay our landlord on the 1st.

Two roommates are moving out on August 11th. They believe they are only obligated to pay pro-rated rates for those eleven days. New roommates are being brought in later in August and will be paying pro-rated rates for their rooms for the days that they live there. The remaining roommate and I are fine breaking the rent down on a day-to-day basis, but there are a few days where the departing roommate's rooms are unoccupied, so no one is paying the rent on those days. The new roommates will not be signing a lease until September 1st.

The roommates who are leaving verbally informed our landlord on July 15th that they were moving out.

Are the roommates who are moving out obligated to pay for the difference in the rent until their rooms are filled?

ScottGem · Jul 23, 2007, 08:59 AM

It depends on law where you are located and what the lease said. Generally, a month to month tenant is required to give notice of at least one rental period. This means, that if they gave notice on July 15, then they are obligated until August 30. Even if they only had to give 30 days, that would carry them until August 15.

Another issue here is who is the rent paid to. It sounds like all the roommates were on the lease and payments are made to the landlord. If that's the case, then no individual roommate is responsible. The landlord has to eat the difference.

So I'm not sure why you are concerned about this. You should only be responsible for your share of the rent. Let the landlord worry about the other roomies.

ballengerb1 · Jul 23, 2007, 10:51 AM

I am guessing you have no written month to month lease and its all verbal. Many of the terms of your old year long lease may still apply but the obligation to pay full rent to the LL remains with all of you. If anyone moves out the rest of you pick up the slack. I would demand that the two who are leaving either remain until the and of the month or at least pay until the end. Am I correct about no written month to month?

ScottGem · Jul 23, 2007, 11:21 AM

I've never encountered a written month to month. In almost all cases a month to month occurs after a longer term lease has expired where a new long term lease is not signed. In such a case, the terms of the oroginal lease apply except for expiration.

I disagree that the other roommates have to take up the slack. It depends on how the lease was setup. Its possible that each individual is responsible only for their share.

ballengerb1 · Jul 23, 2007, 03:01 PM

Scott, you are correct, it really depends on how the old lease was written. Either one of us could be correct. However if A and B sign a lease and share the rent the LL gets paid. If A walks out the LL will still expect B to pay the full rent and tell him to sue his old roommate A for the money. In Illinois the LL does not look at A and B as separate tenants. How is this handled in your area? Thanks, Bob

ScottGem · Jul 23, 2007, 07:41 PM

That's why I said I disagree. Either of us could be right here. Lets take, as an example, a 4 bedroom house. A landlord might rent each bedroom individually, but as part of a single lease. This gives the landlord control over who lives there. But it could also mean each individual is not responsible for the whole.