Ex-Roommates May Share a Courtroom

Question: My roommate and I signed an apartment lease up to the end of this year. Now he wants to move out and terminate his share of the payment. I want to know if I can take him to court and if I have a case.

Property manager Robert S. Griswold replies:

I can tell you that you are both “joint and severally liable” for the full amount of the rent. That means the landlord is going to look to you (since you are still in the rental unit) for the entire rent payment and you will have to seek reimbursement from your former roommate. One of the most economical and logical ways for you to seek reimbursement would be through the Small Claims Court.

Attorney Steven R. Kellman replies:

The lease is actually a two-part contract. It is a contract between yourself and the landlord to pay the rent for the year. It is also a contract between you and your roommate in which each of you have agreed to share the responsibility of the lease with each other.

It is like a partnership. If he moves out before the lease ends, he still remains responsible to the landlord for the rent as it becomes due. If he does not pay his portion of the rent, you become responsible to pay it in full.

Your roommate does not avoid responsibility by leaving and refusing to pay the rent. He would then most likely be held liable for breaching the agreement he had with you to share the lease payments.

To protect your credit, you must keep the rent current to prevent an eviction for nonpayment of rent. You could then file a case against your roommate for reimbursement of rent that you were unfairly forced to pay along with other possible damages for his breach of the lease. If the total damages do not exceed $5,000, I would agree with Griswold that it probably makes sense to file your case in the Small Claims Court.

Apartment Amenities Have Disappeared

Q: We rented a property a few years ago that featured a great weight room and gas barbeques. Recently, the weight room was turned into a storage room for the owner and the barbeques have been removed. To make matters worse, the owners have just sent out very large rent increases to all of the long-term tenants. This doesn’t seem right. The manager apologizes but indicates that it is out of her hands. What can we do?

Kellman replies:

It is not right, but it may be legal. Remember that landlords may change the terms of month-to-month tenancies on only 30 days notice. (It is more difficult and may be a breach of contract to make such changes in the common amenities if there are fixed-term leases in the complex.)

In your case, you were induced to rent the apartment with the amenities that included the weight room and the barbecues. Without those, you may have rented elsewhere. Not only are they taking this from you but they also are pushing up rents. Why? That’s easy. Because they can.

A few years ago, good tenants were scarcer and apartments needed incentives such as amenities to fill vacancies. The rental market has changed so dramatically that good tenants will rent any apartment with or without incentives. This has caused some landlords to take advantage of the situation by removing services or incentives and raising the rent as well. This is a double reduction for tenants since they now pay more and get less.

While some courts may provide certain relief for the removal of services or amenities, there is much in the law that favors the landlord’s right to make these types of changes. The better approach is to temper this profit opportunity with reason, common sense and compassion. The rental market will not always be this way.

Griswold replies:

While Kellman has accurately portrayed the shift from a renter’s market to a landlord’s market, I believe that the proper way to analyze the equity of your situation is to look at the total value you receive for your rent dollar versus other rental communities. You can do this by contacting other apartment communities in your area and evaluating the amenities and features of your community versus the rent received. You may find that the rent at comparable properties is higher. If your research indeed shows that other communities offer more amenities at the same or lower rent, then you have two choices. First, you may be better off moving, but be sure to get a long-term lease. Alternatively, you could approach the owner with this information, which may motivate them to reconsider the elimination of the barbeques and weight room.

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This column is written by property manager Robert Griswold, host of “Real Estate Today!” (KSDO-AM [1130], 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays), and attorneys Steven R. Kellman, director of the Tenants’ Legal Center, and Ted Smith, principal in a law firm representing landlords.

If you have a question, send it to Rental Roundtable, Real Estate section, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., CA 90012. Or you may e-mail them at rgriswold.latimes@retodayradio.com. Questions should be brief and to the point and cannot be answered individually.