Did I handle this right? Kicking out retarded drug addict.

Page 8 and nothing? Harsh.

Haven't gotten the call yet

How old is he? You need to pursue the matter. That's a lot of money. If he was using as a cover for drug money you should let his parents know. that's addiction.

Keep doing what you need to do to get him to pay the amount. Let his parents know about his drug use, so he can at least have people know about it and he won't have his habit put up with, since it sounds like he's been relying on them for money.

Once they realize where the money's been going, they more than likely won't enable him anymore; either that or they're going to control his money.

He sounds like my brother, the more you brought up his drug use the more defensive he got. He's going to need a rude awakening in order to get his shit together.

So yeah, do what you can to get proof that it was his part that wasn't paid, threaten to take him to small claims court if he doesn't pay up. Do not let him off the lease in the mean time if you can afford to work something out momentarily with your renter and with his parents (I would honestly call them and explain the situation). Call about the account (which account are you talking about? electricity?) and explain the situation, let them know what's happening and ask if there's any way you could have the payment prolonged if it's to keep the lights on.

In the future no matter who has control of the bills you need to demand to see everything; if all of you are putting money down, it's all your jobs to know exactly how much is going where. So not only is he at fault, but so are you.

Even if you don't get another drug addict roommate, make sure you stay on top of bills no matter what; refuse to put a payment down until you know what ALL the bills are, even if you have to designate a day all of you can sit down together and pay them TOGETHER.

oh one other thing. roomie situation? never pay cash. written documentation of whom you're paying, when, how much, and for what.

>>17922172
also, like I said previously about small claims court, if you can talk to the electricity company about what happened, work out small payments and pay it off yourself. then take him to small claims court and you will get the money back.

of course, let drug addict know that regardless of what he does he's going to have to pay because it's under his name, and that he can either pay the money now or once you take him to small claims court you'll ask for even more money in damages.

let him know you're not fucking around.

>>17922174
this. get checks from your bank, and hand write everything so you have proof. when you put who the check is to, there's no way your roommates can steal the money or cash the check for something else that isn't for the bills.

>>17922082
20. And we are, we tried contacting his parents, but the best we could get was him contacting them on his phone (and we talked over speaker phone)

They said they need to talk about it and that they would call back today


If they say no, how the fuck else am I supposed to pursue this?

>>17922195
If the apartments are campus controlled, you can go to the campus with that. If not, then >>17922172
and small claims await you

>>17922195
CALL THE ELECTRICITY COMPANY IF THEY SAY NO.
let them know what's going on and ask for their advice. most are willing to wait for the payments or can help point you in the right direction.

Get your landlord/renter if you can as a witness and take durg addict to small claims court by going to your small court claims office which is next/inside the courthouse. Start filing asap after you gather as much proof as you can, take pictures to show that he's moved out and bring the bill showing that he has hasn't paid the light bill under HIS name. They'll see that he had control of the account and make him pay it.

You might have to wait a bit, but if you talk to the electricity company like I said, you should be fine to wait it out a bit and work on getting a new roommate.

>>17922184
This is kind of a weird situation, but the fees weren't requested by the power company, they fucking shut off the power in september.

On top of that, the complex just takes over electricity in that case, and for every month they have to handle it, it's a fee on top of a really shitty rate for electricity.

We (the good roommate and I) are only now getting billed for these, as we had no idea that the power was shut off and that faggot never paid the bill despite everything on the electric account being in his name.

The issue I'm dealing with is getting him to pay the fees as it was his responsibility to manage that account. So thankfully his name is the only one on the energy account, but I doubt small claims court will give us any legal justification for forcing him to pay us back.

Any questions? Not sure if I'm explaining this well

>>17922206
If the account is in his name, you should be good to go to small claims. But personally I would go to hell and back to talk to his parents either in person or on the phone, if he's a drug addict he obviously has no qualms lying to them about the situation.

If he's already moved out, make sure all the doors are locked (possibly get lock changed if he might have a copy key) all the time, first explain your side of the story, and then inform his parents that they need to drug test him.

If you can make him look like the bad person in all of this (you've got the almight trump card with knowing that he's a druggie, plus I bet his parents aren't thrilled about him being a drop out either) get them guilty for having to deal with their shitty child and I'm sure they'll pay it all.

Unless the parents also end up being shitty, then court it is

>>17922206
that's how almost all electricity companies are; they will keep charging you late fees on top of the normal amount until you tell them to stop/after a long period of time of no payments.

you can still take him to small claims court over this, I've done the same over unpaid utilities and electricity and won, plus extra.

The court will have no problem seeing that he was in control of the account and make him pay it. His name being the only one on the account makes it even easier for you guys to win. Either that or you don't try anything and have fun paying everything.

If someone is not paying you money they were legally obligated to when they agreed with the lease, that's enough to take them to small claims court.

>>17922248
But wouldn't I be spending money on a lawyer? How can I afford that as a broke as college student?

Wouldn't I be getting less money than what I pay the lawyer in the end?

>>17922248
>>17922261

Really want your advice again seeing as you've gone through small claims before

>>17922261

small claims court is made so that people don't have to put unnecessary money down; it's available because things like this happen all the time and they realize people need their money back.
small claims court is not the same as a full court case. you don't need to pay for an attorney or lawyer to represent you. The small claims courts have advisors there to help you.

all you do is go to a local court house and ask them to direct you to the small claims court clerk. they'll tell you whether or not you have a case (which you will) and then give you the paper work to start filling out.
they will then let you know what needs to happen next and let you know exactly what's going to happen/answer any questions you have.

there may be a small fee (I remember I paid like $20 bucks), but then they will serve your drug addict roommate with papers letting him know of the date. (they will explain all this to you when you go in).

in the mean time you need to collect all documentation that shows you and your roommate paid your part (get withdrawal proof from your bank for payments, contracts between your roommates, payment stubs, paid bills, etc.) and documentation that shows druggie hasn't paid his part (IE the fact that you have no access to the account and the bills you've now been receiving with late fees is more than enough).


it sounds harder than it actually is, literally all you need to do is go in to the court building, ask to talk to the small claims clerk, fill out paper work, and wait for him to be served.

you'll get a hearing date and then when you go, you'll win the money, I can guaranteed it.

>>17922285
Honestly that doesn't sound too hard at all. Thanks for the advice anon, I'll try keeping the thread bumped so I can update you on what's happening


Still waiting on the call from druggy

>>17922285
also, when you go to your hearing in front of the judge, be concise and to the point, don't add in unnecessary things. Be polite, and you'll win his favor. dress nicely, even if it's small claims court.

don't add in extra information, the judge will only care that the money hasn't been paid and details pertaining to THIS case, he won't want to hear that 'my roommate hasn't paid because he's on drugs'. etc. Being to the point will win you favor with the judge; let your roommate run his mouth and the judge will be more prone to fucking him over (lol, this is what happened with the person I took to court).

and like I stated, before doing this small claims, you can let your druggie roommate know what you plan to do to see if he'll come up with the money without you having to go through with it. sometimes a threat is all you need.

good luck anon, if you have any more questions let me know.

>>17922301
it seems more intimidating than it actually is just because it has court in the name. That alone usually freaks people out. But yeah, the process is relatively easy.

They can also give you more advice on what to do (if you should break his lease, keep his lease, etc.). Most of the time they're on your side with these things.

And if the thread dies, just make a new one and I'll keep an eye out. Hopefully he realizes you're not playing around and will have the law on your side.

>>17922312
Tbqh I'm just praying his parents just fess the money up to pay for his fuck up and I don't have to see the faggot ever again

>>17922306
Not exactly a question about the small claims court but how can I get documentarion about the account being in his name? Would the power company just release that information to me despite my not being on there?

>>17922322
I would definitely try the parents first, then. If they refuse, let them know you're in the process of filing paper work and plan on taking him to court (even if you haven't started yet, it might light a fire under their asses). Be respectful but explain it's put you in a bad situation and that while you're worried about his drug abuse (I'd slip this in with fake concern), you guys are facing being put on the streets because of him.

Hopefully after all is said and done, you won't have to see this idiot ever again.

>>17922343
Is there a polite way of telling them I'm going to take him to small claims? From what I know his parents are pretty loaded so I'm starting to worry about the reprecussions of pissing them off with a court threat

>>17922385
And on a side note, I'm shocked /adv/ has given me legitimately great advice. The first time I posted here was about kicking him out, some anons gave me the right way to do it, it worked, but then ai got saddled with this horse shit electricity problem that I had no way of knowing about until we kicked him out.

Fuck this makes me angry.

>>17922330
The judge will more than likely ask who has control over the electricity, to which druggy will have no choice but to admit he does because if not he will be caught lying in a court of law.

also, ask the small claims advisor what way is best to go about getting that. you don't have to worry about gathering all the paper work right now, since they'll let you know what you need 100% once you go in. you might not even need that, since it's obviously in his name, and may be something HE has to bring in. bring everything else that you guys have paid, and if you can show where you guys are now getting the late fees from what he hasn't paid, that should be good too. they'll be able to know that he had control of the account and know that you only get late fees if you aren't paying. they'll be able to put one and one together.

get the name of the power company if you can, but more than likely druggy will need to supply that information. just put together what paperwork you can for the time being, then find out what more you'll need when you go to the court.

in short: only get what you can at the moment, don't worry about the things you don't have access to because the judge will be able to find all that out in court

Okay, I discussed this with the sane roommate and he brought up some legitimate concerns

>would small claims court actually give a damn about his (druggie) name being on the account if the apartment is the one charging us fees?
>wouldn't we all be liable since we are all on the lease?

>>17922437
Not sure, but I've also never dealt with a shitty roommate or been to small claims, sorry anon

>>17922445
You're fucking lucky

>>17922437
Good questions. However, your names are on the lease, his name was on the utility. That would make him responsible from my point of view.

>>17922385
I would honestly try talking to druggie first if he doesn't give you an update in the next day or two.
I would also only notify him on what you plan to do once you've actually gone to the court and seen if you can go through with it/gotten all their advice, just in case. people often don't act the way we want them to when mad.

you don't want to cause more problems on the off chance he was going to actually pay and then piss him off.

anyways, go to the court first without saying anything in a few days if he doesn't give you the money; use it as a last resort. I also wouldn't advice messaging his parents if you don't know how they are, since it's hard to tell what kind of people they are if you don't know them, and they might react negatively, although once in small claims court they aren't allowed to intervene, it is just between you and him, they can still cause issues/drama.

Once you've talked to the small claims court and have the paper work ready to file, try talking with your druggie friend asking to work things out civilly one last time. If he still hasn't given you money, now you can explain to him that you're willing to work things out, but if need be will take him to court and can explain you have everything ready to do so.

only use the court information as a last means, and always have it ready before threatening with it. empty threats don't do anything.

if worst comes to worst and druggie refuses to cooperate, he'll most likely ask his parents for help.

I don't think threatening his parents for money for something their son has done is a good move, so I would wait for druggie to go to his parents and ask for the money. Then like I said, if he doesn't get the money from them, take his ass to court.

Hopefully that made sense.

>>17921157
give the company his new address dumb ass

>>17922248
u have to wait 5-6 mos for small claims court

>>17922401
>>17922401
make sure to weigh the pros and cons of each situation and each possible outcome. they're all going to have repercussions, but you need to do what you believe is best for YOU.

This is why I'm imploring you to do things carefully and be as respectful as possible. Like I said before, ask him civilly first before jumping into claims court, and before mentioning claims court to him, actually go to the claims court so they can help you prepare for each scenario. They often offer free advice.

>>17922437
you need to go to the small claims court regardless and ask them for their advice. they will offer it for free.

even though they're charging you now, he was in charge of utilities. they'll be able to see that, it was the same for me and I won my money.

again, go talk to the court. all it's going to do is help you out, since it seems like you're both at a loss of what to do first.

>>17922489
no you don't. mine was 2 weeks. it depends on how big the case is, which this one isn't what they'd consider as being 'huge'.

OP, if you feel that small claims court isn't worth it, then try respectfully asking his parents for help. Explain the situation carefully and let them know that you're not sure what to do. Explain that he's still on the lease, and hasn't been able to pay it. Let them know you're worried it's going to get you all kicked out. Play it up but be respectful if you feel court isn't the way to go.

>>17922509
I'm going in the following order

>waiting today to find out if he'll pay willingly
>in the mean time collecting documents
> won't mention small claims court until we (sane roommie and I) actually go down there to get advice
> will attempt to try parents if he says no
> if he refuses to pay, alert the complex and then go file at the small claims court

>>17922630
Past 4 pm and no response from him yet

Fucking kill me

>>17923192


Finalish update:
Other roommate gave in and told druggie that he only had to pay 1/3

I'm done with people I fucking swear to god

>>17922306
>>17922285

I'm not the OP but I just want to say that your input here is appreciated, man. This is really helpful stuff and I'm sure a lot of other people have felt intimidated by small claims court, etc.

It's nice to see /adv/ with legit information and a nice tone. Hope you're having a nice day.

>>17924053
OP here, totally agree with this anon.

You helped a ton to walk me through the possibilities, and as a good backup if he doesn't pay in the future

>>17924039
wait what. why would he do that?

>>17924083
Because he's a fucking cuck in every sense of the word.

I was at work tonight and apparently mcfuckwit showed up at the apartment while I was gone and other roommate took it upon himself to "bridge the gap so neither of his friends gets hurt"

I try to do right in this world.

Why the fuck can't I get what I legally deserve?

>>17924039
Tell other roommate that he's paying 2/3 if he's going to do that kind of stuff.

>>17924695
I wish, but we're on really good terms (before stabbing me in the fucking back) and I'm not going to shut it down and both lose a 2 on 3 battle and ruin our friendship by fighting him on it


I just want this shit to be done

$700 is a steal to learn not to trust or bother with that druggie ever again. Also if your roommate agreed he pay 1/3, he should pay the rest. You had nothing to do with that deal so he has no say to force any amount on you.

Hopefully in the future, you realize you need to physically see the money being used to pay the bills and not just asumming it is. Even with my closest, lifelong friends, we agreed to have another person go with the bill payer to make sure everything was paid as expected.

>>17924865
I feel weirdly betrayed

I don't know why I'm so hurt by this because I shouldn't have been surprised