My roommate is a deadbeat..advice pls

[John24]

My ll came to my apt today, showed me two bounced checks that my roommate wrote. She's been staying w/ her parents in NJ for the past 3 1/2 months. The 1st check she wrote was to cover another bounced check she wrote in December. The 2nd was for January. My ll is fed up, I'm fed up too. I want her out of here ASAP, but we co-signed a lease that doesnt end until August.

I've already spoken to my roommate and told her if she has no reason to live here anymore that she should talk to the ll about breaking the lease and moving out. I'm sure my ll will have no problem with that. My question though - does my roommate have to give a 30-day prior notice or something like that? Can my ll decide to keep her deposit as a consequence of her breaking the lease? More of a concern to me - if my ll decides to take this to court, am I in anyway affected by this? I have always paid my rent on time and never had a bounced check.

Thanks,
John

[Chimera]

Wow, I'm sorry to hear your roommate is giving you trouble, it's an awful situation.

Speak to your landlord about letting your roommate break the lease immediately and resigning one in your name. I'm sure the landlord won't require any notice for this since since your roommate hasn't been paying. And yes, your landlord can hold her deposit money to cover a portion of the unpaid rent.

Since both of your names are on the lease, you might be held liable for her back rent, but your landlord might not bother trying to collect since you pay your portion of rent in a timely manner. Try your best to get her to pay anything owed before she leaves. Good luck!