Looking to Sue a Previous Roommate

[rcrawford115]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

So, 3 months ago, I got out of a lease with a bad roommate of mine. He still owes me $3500.00, in unpaid utilities and rent. He has promised on numerous occasions that he would pay half of the bills. He has also, on one occasion, not payed the gas bill that was in his name (which I had no access to) resulting in the gas being shut off, after I wrote him a check, that he deposited into his account.

He claimed that he did not have the money to pay these bills, but I suspect that he had been lying to me. He has a bad history with roommates, and his default when pressed on how we are going to come up with the money for the bills is, "If you don't pay the rest, then we are going to get evicted." And, this applies to either rent or utilities, as our leasing agreement has an upkeep clause of some description, that demands we have the utilities running at all times, or risk eviction.

I have numerous checks, money orders, and statements from my bank (for when my debit card was used to pay certain bills, especially the electric bill). However, I have more statements from the bank than I do checks and money orders.

My question is, would this be worth pursuing in small claims court? What are my chances of winning this case? And, if my roommate spends all of his money, and thus can't pay me (in the event that I win) what will happen?

These are just some of the questions that I have in my head. He is refusing to communicate with me at all, and I wanted to know if I had any legal leg to stand on, and if taking him to court would have any point.

Also, before anyone asks, to possibly trouble-shoot any questions that I could see cropping up, no, we did not have a written roommate agreement, just a verbal one. This is one of the main problems I foresee. We also both signed the lease as lease holders, and we managed to avoid eviction until the lease was up, one year after we moved in. He also has remained in the apartment with new roommates.

He also has been seen on social media posting about eating extravagant foods, such as sushi, and has been seen out with friends on a regular basis, but refuses to answer my calls, emails, or messages on social media.

I hope I can get some advice from people who have sued roommates, or experienced lawyers on the matter. Because, I really would like to sue and get my money back, but at the current time I am very uncertain about how much water my claims will hold in court.

If there are any questions that would help assess the situation, feel free to ask. I would be glad to answer any questions that you may have about my situation.

 

[drruthless]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

So, 3 months ago, I got out of a lease with a bad roommate of mine. He still owes me $3500.00, in unpaid utilities and rent. He has promised on numerous occasions that he would pay half of the bills. He has also, on one occasion, not payed the gas bill that was in his name (which I had no access to) resulting in the gas being shut off, after I wrote him a check, that he deposited into his account.

He claimed that he did not have the money to pay these bills, but I suspect that he had been lying to me. He has a bad history with roommates, and his default when pressed on how we are going to come up with the money for the bills is, "If you don't pay the rest, then we are going to get evicted." And, this applies to either rent or utilities, as our leasing agreement has an upkeep clause of some description, that demands we have the utilities running at all times, or risk eviction.

I have numerous checks, money orders, and statements from my bank (for when my debit card was used to pay certain bills, especially the electric bill). However, I have more statements from the bank than I do checks and money orders.

My question is, would this be worth pursuing in small claims court? What are my chances of winning this case? And, if my roommate spends all of his money, and thus can't pay me (in the event that I win) what will happen?

These are just some of the questions that I have in my head. He is refusing to communicate with me at all, and I wanted to know if I had any legal leg to stand on, and if taking him to court would have any point.

Also, before anyone asks, to possibly trouble-shoot any questions that I could see cropping up, no, we did not have a written roommate agreement, just a verbal one. This is one of the main problems I foresee. We also both signed the lease as lease holders, and we managed to avoid eviction until the lease was up, one year after we moved in. He also has remained in the apartment with new roommates.

He also has been seen on social media posting about eating extravagant foods, such as sushi, and has been seen out with friends on a regular basis, but refuses to answer my calls, emails, or messages on social media.

I hope I can get some advice from people who have sued roommates, or experienced lawyers on the matter. Because, I really would like to sue and get my money back, but at the current time I am very uncertain about how much water my claims will hold in court
If there are any questions that would help assess the situation, feel free to ask. I would be glad to answer any questions that you may have about my situation.

I hear thumbscrews are back in fashion....

Even if you won,
You'd be in the same boat just at a different end.
It would probably cost that much in time and money.
I'd chock it up to experience and learn from it.
I don't think it is so much the money as your mad and embarrassed because you trusted the wrong person and got burnt....
Been there done that..
..____________________
~ experience is what you get,
when you don't get what you wanted.

 

[HRZ]

You have the uphill burden to prove the oral deal to split various costs .. can you do it ? All the rest of the drama about spending habits and lying does not matter and will distract from the real issues of the oral contract .

IF you win, you can use any legal tool to collect but it's your job to do the work .....thumbscrews not allowed ...and some forks are darn good at never paying up.

Probably more productive to just move on?

 

[rcrawford115]

I hear thumbscrews are back in fashion....

Even if you won,
You'd be in the same boat just at a different end.
It would probably cost that much in time and money.
I'd chock it up to experience and learn from it.
I don't think it is so much the money as your mad and embarrassed because you trusted the wrong person and got burnt....
Been there done that..
..____________________
~ experience is what you get,
when you don't get what you wanted.

You're right about one thing - I am angry. Who wouldn't be? In fact, I'm absolutely livid that I was used by someone like this low-life. If I'm being honest, tension is just boiling over at this point, as I see him make more and more posts about going out and partying, and eating sushi and that style of Japanese food where they cook on the table in front of you, while I'm stuck getting screwed. And this guy had been my friend for over half a decade before he suggest we move in to an apartment together.

But where you're wrong is where it isn't about the money. Because of him, I got fired from my job, and have been through hell trying to find another. I still haven't found a new job, and I've just about run out of money, and I'm living at my parents' house.

I could have stayed in that city if I kept my job, but because of my roommate, that's not possible. And that particular area had better options than this one. If I had the money that he owed me, at the very least even if I lost my job, I wouldn't be so desperate right now as to suggest that I sue him for what he owes me. I'm not just some stupid kid that doesn't know how the world works. I came here looking for legal advice, not a lecture about life experience.

I'm a guy trying to make ends meet, and here you are lecturing me.

 

[rcrawford115]

You have the uphill burden to prove the oral deal to split various costs .. can you do it ? All the rest of the drama about spending habits and lying does not matter and will distract from the real issues of the oral contract .

IF you win, you can use any legal tool to collect but it's your job to do the work .....thumbscrews not allowed ...and some forks are darn good at never paying up.

Probably more productive to just move on?

It would be next to impossible. He never paid his half - even in the beginning, I have the full transaction, and he gave me cash. There were no checks or money orders.

As for outlining the drama and nonsense that he's been doing, I figured that I would provide any information that I thought could be relevant. I'm not very experienced with the legal system, and my own personal research has yielded mixed results, so I figured I'd try to find someone who knew something about this, whether through training (i.e. a lawyer) or someone who's been through it before.

It probably would be more productive to look into starting a gofundme for my financial burdens until I find a job, or maybe even apply for welfare. But, man, do I want to see the conniving SoB get what's coming to him. Because, in the end, I'm pretty sure that he's done this to multiple people in the past, and as far as I know he's gotten away with it every time.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

Forget the revenge business.

Civil lawsuits ARE about money.

The tricky part is collecting even if one wins their judgment.

Does this person work? Ohio does allow for wage garnishment.

Review the attached:

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2716

Gail

 

[not2cleverRed]

You're right about one thing - I am angry. Who wouldn't be? In fact, I'm absolutely livid that I was used by someone like this low-life. If I'm being honest, tension is just boiling over at this point, as I see him make more and more posts about going out and partying, and eating sushi and that style of Japanese food where they cook on the table in front of you, while I'm stuck getting screwed. And this guy had been my friend for over half a decade before he suggest we move in to an apartment together.

But where you're wrong is where it isn't about the money. Because of him, I got fired from my job, and have been through hell trying to find another. I still haven't found a new job, and I've just about run out of money, and I'm living at my parents' house.

I could have stayed in that city if I kept my job, but because of my roommate, that's not possible. And that particular area had better options than this one. If I had the money that he owed me, at the very least even if I lost my job, I wouldn't be so desperate right now as to suggest that I sue him for what he owes me. I'm not just some stupid kid that doesn't know how the world works. I came here looking for legal advice, not a lecture about life experience.

I'm a guy trying to make ends meet, and here you are lecturing me.

You do realize, that if you pursue this in small claims, that there area where this occurred will likely be where you would have to file the claim? So that if you are not close enough to commute to a job in that area, pursuing a small claim suit there is going to be mighty inconvenient.

It is unclear how you being fired from your job is at all connected to your ex-roommate.

 

[rcrawford115]

You do realize, that if you pursue this in small claims, that there area where this occurred will likely be where you would have to file the claim? So that if you are not close enough to commute to a job in that area, pursuing a small claim suit there is going to be mighty inconvenient.

It is unclear how you being fired from your job is at all connected to your ex-roommate.

I didn't really go into it because I didn't think it was relevant. I worked night shift, he worked day shift at the same place. So, while he was going about his day on multiple occasions when our days off didn't quite sync up, he has woken me up several times, and not least of which being when he would regularly attempt to cook, and set off the apartment's fire alarms. I would also, on several occasions be unable to sleep due to the temperature in my room reach intolerable heights of 75 degrees or more, all due to his meddling with the thermostat, and there were multiple times that there were "emergencies" that I had to come home for in the middle of my day at his behest.

Also, I did not know about the process - I figured that I would need to go to a court in the area, but I was not aware that I would have to be there for multiple days or multiple court appearances.

Then again, when I find a job, there are several that I'm looking at right now that would assist me in relocating to that area. So, it may still be feasible.

But thanks for bringing it up, though. This was something that I didn't think about, and didn't know would be an issue. Should I get to a point where it would be somewhat advisable to take on his legal action, this is something that I will definitely take into consideration.

 

[Zigner]

I didn't really go into it because I didn't think it was relevant. I worked night shift, he worked day shift at the same place. So, while he was going about his day on multiple occasions when our days off didn't quite sync up, he has woken me up several times, and not least of which being when he would regularly attempt to cook, and set off the apartment's fire alarms. I would also, on several occasions be unable to sleep due to the temperature in my room reach intolerable heights of 75 degrees or more, all due to his meddling with the thermostat, and there were multiple times that there were "emergencies" that I had to come home for in the middle of my day at his behest.

Also, I did not know about the process - I figured that I would need to go to a court in the area, but I was not aware that I would have to be there for multiple days or multiple court appearances.

Then again, when I find a job, there are several that I'm looking at right now that would assist me in relocating to that area. So, it may still be feasible.

But thanks for bringing it up, though. This was something that I didn't think about, and didn't know would be an issue. Should I get to a point where it would be somewhat advisable to take on his legal action, this is something that I will definitely take into consideration.

You can almost definitely also sue in the court local to the defendant.

 

[rcrawford115]

You can almost definitely also sue in the court local to the defendant.

Well, yes, assuming by, "the defendant" you mean my roommate, that is kind of an isssue since I no longer live in the area that he does. If I could sue in a court close to my area (since both areas are still in the state of Ohio) that would be very helpful.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Well, yes, assuming by, "the defendant" you mean my roommate, that is kind of an isssue since I no longer live in the area that he does. If I could sue in a court close to my area (since both areas are still in the state of Ohio) that would be very helpful.

Exactly.

Makes you wonder how he keeps getting roommates...

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Well, yes, assuming by, "the defendant" you mean my roommate, that is kind of an isssue since I no longer live in the area that he does. If I could sue in a court close to my area (since both areas are still in the state of Ohio) that would be very helpful.

You are only going to be able to sue in small claims court in the county where he is or maybe the county where all of this happened.

 

[Zigner]

You are only going to be able to sue in small claims court in the county where he is or maybe the county where all of this happened.

I'm pretty sure they are one and the same.