[daveedwards]

This is happening in North Carolina:

My roommate and I began a year long lease on June 2, 2012. Two weeks later, I decided that I no longer wanted to live there because I wanted to move abroad. I know this flaky but I only signed a lease because I had applied for grad school and if you do not find housing early in the town, you are screwed. Of course, I didn't get in and I began to realize that I wanted to leave town and get a fresh start. Up until this point my roommate and I had been best friends and never had any issues (we lived together previously four 8 months.) On June 27 I notified the landlord that I wanted to move. He said he would let me out of the lease if I found a qualified replacement. After a few weeks the original candidate I had chosen turned out to not fit landlord's requirements.

At the end of July, I started looking on Craigslist. This is a college town so within a week, I had over twenty responses and I sent the information of the three most qualified individuals to both the landlord and roommate. I also had met these people in person and they looked at the apartment. But, since it was the end of the month, I felt bad about the roommate having to live with a stranger that quickly so I paid August rent to give him a little breathing room. I moved out of the apartment on July 27. During this time, I had been very friendly to him and tried to my best to help with the situation. Most of the time, he was hostile and rude to me. Originally, he wanted me to pay three months rent to give him time. I told him I could not afford that as it would be almost $1200 and asked if I could pay one month of rent and leave the deposit. We never really agreed on either side.

On July 30, I emailed him apologizing again and also sent the information of one more candidate. He replied that he no longer wanted me forwarding roommate information. A few weeks go by and I do not hear from him. On August 18, I sent him an email with a roommate release form attached. He responded saying that he will not sign it and is considering taking me to small claims court, but will let me know what his decision is. I asked him not to do that in the name of our former friendship. He apologized and I told him I would send him September rent so he would have some more time to find a roommate. He did not respond to the note and I have not heard from him. However, he has cashed the check which I verified through my bank.

At this point I am not sure what to do. Though he claims to be looking for a roommate, I know he has nothing posted on Craigslist and this would be the only way he could find one. I cannot afford to keep paying him rent. Like I said earlier, I moved out on July 27. I have since been living in California and am trying to get organized to move abroad. The complicating factor is that my parents cosigned on the lease, and they still live in North Carolina. I am not sure what to do. He has been completely uncooperative with me and would rather drag this out then just make life easier for us both.

[ScottGem]

Do you have any clue what a contract is? You signed one and it bound you. If I were your roommste I would be plenty pissed at you. He relied on your word and you hung him out to dry.

Not only him but your parents helped you by co-signing the lease and you hung them out too.

What you should have done is get a job and when the lease expired then you could move.

However, if you can prove that he is not exercising due diligence by trying to replace you, you may prevail if he takes you to court.

But you are NOT the injured party here. You reneged on a binding contract and have to deal with the consequences.