My old roommmate moved out and a new roommate is moving in. The landlord wants to charge a $500 application fee for the new roommate, even if he/she isn't listed on the lease.
My understanding is that they can't prevent me from switching roommates under the Roommate Law and thus shouldn't be able to charge an application fee.
However I don't want them to refuse to renew my lease because of this, which will happen soon. Is this something they can do? Should I ...
A) Say that I will be the only one living here when I renew the lease (they know this is not true)
or
B) Have the new roommate pay the fee, and try to fight it at a later date