Okay so in June of 2004 I moved in to this three bedroom apartment with two other girls. In Feb. of 2005 one girl moved out and the other girl moved in one of her guy friends. Well the girl (she is the main leaser) decided to go study overseas that fall. She told us that we had to cover her rent while she was gone from September - December. Both of them paid $210 each a month for rent and I paid $260. This wasn't written in the lease it was jsut agreed upon between the three of us since I was in the master bedroom and had my own bathroom.
Well right after the girl left for overseas in late August, the guy told me that he was moving out to goto the Army in approx 2 weeks. However, he told me that he would pay his share of the rent until the girl comes back from Japan. Well by the time all of this was happening our college semester was already underway and everyone already had places to stay. So I was stuck paying $680 a month for rent plus all of the utilities until Jan. Whenever I talked to the girl online she would tell me "I would help you out, but I have no money." Now let me remind you that her name was still on the lease and I was a sub-leaser.
Well the guy never gave me a dime for the rent he said he'd give me. However, we did sign a contract between the two of us saying that he will pay me his rent on time until Jan of 06. Once the girl came back from Japan at the start of this year, she never offered to pay me for her share of the rent for the last few months she was gone. Yet, being the nice guy I didn't worry about it.
Now here is the next part...she went and re-signed the lease for this year behind my back with two other people in Feb. (Our lease is from June-June...she signed from June 06-June 07 behind my back) So I basically was stuck without a place to live and scrambled around to find a new apartment by May.
Well around that time I found out I was losing my job and I was having a real hard time finding a new one. So I decided not to pay rent for May since I wouldn't be living there for that whole month (I was only there the first week). Since she was still on the lease, she could pay the whole rent that month. Afterall, I covered her butt while she was overseas. I paid $1680 in rent for both her and her friend for 4 months, because they weren't around.
Well since I didn't pay my share of rent for May, the girl is harassing me and threatening to sue me if I don't pay my part of the rent for last month. So, I'm going to countersue her for the money she owes me for Sept. - Dec.
Do either one of us have any legal recourse to sue? Our contract doesn't state that we owe a certain amount individually. And I'm no longer on the lease for that apartment, but she is.