eewillison
02-09-2006, 04:06 PM
I've been living in this duplex with three other guys for a few months now. I was the only one to sign the lease, but they all signed papers of their intent to move in so the landlord could check their credit history before we decided on this place. One of my roomates has brought up moving out for the lone fact that he is unhappy. He has an anger management problem and has littered our driveway and put holes in his room as well as our community rooms and broken doors. If he goes through with moving out and tries to skip out of his rent, am I the one stuck with the obligation to the landlord or does he still have the obligation since he was a tenant for 3 months, signed the credit permit, and has destroyed parts of our place? I would like to know so if he plans on doing anything rash I'll be able to explain his consequences. Thank you very much for your help.
__________________________________________________ _______________
In Ohio, if the lease agreement was to be signed by more than one person, but only one person signs, then there is case law which holds that the lease agreement is not enforceable (at that point, the court would likely consider the tenancy to be month to month).
Your roommate will be responsible for any physical damages he causes to the place (though you as a tenant would also be responsible). Were you to sue him and get a judgment against him for the damages he caused, you might have some trouble collecting unless he has tangible assets which you can seize via judicial process.
So you would be best off to make sure that any damages he does are repaired. Whenever you do leave this place, you will want to make sure that you videotape it so that there will be no doubt about its condition after you move out. Landlords have a way of exaggerating damages sometimes.
To learn more about your rights as a tenant in Ohio, you might wish to go to http://www.ohiolandlordtenant.com/book.html
__________________________________________________ _______________
In Ohio, if the lease agreement was to be signed by more than one person, but only one person signs, then there is case law which holds that the lease agreement is not enforceable (at that point, the court would likely consider the tenancy to be month to month).
Your roommate will be responsible for any physical damages he causes to the place (though you as a tenant would also be responsible). Were you to sue him and get a judgment against him for the damages he caused, you might have some trouble collecting unless he has tangible assets which you can seize via judicial process.
So you would be best off to make sure that any damages he does are repaired. Whenever you do leave this place, you will want to make sure that you videotape it so that there will be no doubt about its condition after you move out. Landlords have a way of exaggerating damages sometimes.
To learn more about your rights as a tenant in Ohio, you might wish to go to http://www.ohiolandlordtenant.com/book.html