[lostdeposit]

I have a few questions,

I am currently on a month to month and after my other 3 roommates left the landlord said I could stay and it was OK to get other people to move in to help pay for the rent as long as I made sure it was on time and paid. AT this time I also bought out there part of the lease.

The situation is on the 5th I found out that I had to move on the 30th for my Job, so I let the landlord and my roommates know. I ask the landlord if they could stay and find someone to replace me. They said that would be OK as long as they had one point person to deal with and they filled out a 1 page information doc and paid for the $20 filing fee. This way they could stay and they would not raise the rent.

The 3 roommates agreed and were going to buy out my lease. I got them the paper work and passed on the landlords information, I was even helping to look for a replacement for my room. The day they were suppose to on the meet on the 14th the roommates no-showed and none of the filled out the paper work. Because of this the landlord ask that everyone be out by the 30th and they would not allow them to stay. ( as a side note 2 of the roommates who were having trouble getting rent said they would pay me a little late and now are refusing to pay for this month)

I e-mail the 3 roommates and let them know everyone had to be out on the 30th. The 2 roommates that did not pay will not reply to me or return my calls, but I know they got the e-mail because they accused me of taking something in a reply to the e-mail letting them know we all had to be out.

Now today with 2 days left the other roommate lets me know she is not leavening and is staying until the end of next month. The other 2 roommates do not even look like they have started to pack.

At this point I am out 1/3rd the rent for last month and afraid I will not get my deposit back. We are in CA and since they never filled out any paper work for the landlord I am sure they assume they are not renters. If that happens will they hold me liable to get them out and give them a reason to not give me my deposit back?

The 1 roommate did pay rent with checks, but the other 2 always paid in cash.

Thanks for any advice in this situation.

[N0help4u]

The landlord said everybody out by the 30th so get out by the 30th and let the landlord deal with them. I doubt you will be able to get any money out of them without taking them to small claims court and then they still can choose not to pay so you may have to just count any money you give the landlord as a loss. Personally I would let them come up with the money or let the landlord take you to court if it comes down to it.

[George_1950]

Evidently the subletting has proved ineffectual and you remain the 'tenant' of record. A practical question for you: how far away is your job? Seems to me you will be better off catching-up the past due rent, evicting your 'friends', and giving the landlord a proper notice to terminate your lease, then get your security deposit back. I think this is why landlords don't make good friends: they know someone is always trying to take advantage of the situation. You should start to evict your roommates tomorrow unless you want to share their fate, except that it sounds like you are 'it'. See this: Landlord/Tenant Book Index - California Department of Consumer Affairs