issue with roommates...Help

E

envyon

Member
Apr 18, 2006
32
0
#1
so i'm a college student that lives in an apartment with 3 other roommates. I've already moved out all my stuff, and I don't plan on going back to the apartment until my lease is over (july 31st) and i have to hand in my keys. Therefore, I plan on just paying for rent, but two of my roommates feel that I still should pay a full 1/4 for utilities like power and water and cable for june and july when i'm not there. Honestly, I find that to be unfair especially because one of my roommates likes to keep the apartment at 68 degrees in spring/summer when I'm not there to move it back to 76-78 degrees.
So what do you guys think? Do u think i'm being unreasonable? or should i just pay up?

just to let you know, 1 roommate is staying for a maymester and working around campus the rest of the summer perhaps going home for a while, the other is staying from june-july, and the other one is not planning on staying at all, like me (but is willing to pay 1/4 of the utilities)

i mean, i'm willing to pay for cable since we signed a 1 yr contract for it, and i agreed to it, therefore i'm obligated to pay. I'm also willing to pay base charges on water and power since i could see it as i'm going on a vacation and i'll still be charged base charges even if i'm not using any power or water. Is that reasonable?

I feel like they will still want me to pay a full 1/4... =/
 
#3
while i see your point of view (and i also live in an apartment with 3 roommates), i think it's probably still reasonable for them to ask you to pay the full 1/4. you made the commitment to incur the expenses of the apartment for a year, and i think you should honor that if they ask you to, even though you won't technically consume things like power and water while you're not there.
 
#4
I agree^^
Even though you wont be there, you should still pay the 1/4 of utilities that you commited to. Think of it this way, since all 4 of you were splitting the utility bills, it was balanced, if you dont pay it will throw it off balance. :biggrin:
 
#5
Sorry, also have to agree with paying the 1/4. Unless an agreement was made before you guys all signed the lease and signed up for bills, then they expected to have to only pay 1/4 so I'd be pretty mad if someone tried to leave early and stick me with paying extra on the bills.
 
#6
during my 2nd and 3rd year i lived in apt by myself during the summer (i took summer school). while i was there alone i paid for the pg&e and cable myself. the girls thought since they weren't there it's not fair for them to pay. since pg&e is based on usage they didn't think they should pay for electricity i used.

my 4th year the complex charges a water fee (in the contract it states that you are responsible for paying it - so basically it's part of your rent). my aptmate moved out early (she graduated) but our lease isn't up. she couldn't find a replacement so told me to pay a portion of her rent for a month. i pay the pg&e myself and for 2 months i've paid her share of the water bill. starting next month though she is going to pay her share of the water & her full rent.

i don't really know why you should pay a portion of the pg&e...something based on usage if all your stuff is unplugged and stuff. esp if one of the aptmates is careless about conserving it.
 
#7
Sorry, but I think you need to pay the 1/4. You signed an agreement to stay for a certain amount of time (even if you aren't staying there). If I were you're roommate, I wouldn't expect you to just leave me with the bill. On my part, however, I wouldn't abuse the electricity in order to keep costs reasonable. If you were paying the whole cable bill (and it was over 60 dollars), then maybe I could see the other 3 roommates picking up the electric bill. But electricity flucuates so much nowadays, it's just fair.
 
#8
I don't think you should have to pay the whole 1/4 of the utilities. Paying out the rest of the cable contract sounds reasonable. If you're not there to use the water and electricity, I don't see why you should have to pay. I'm assuming that the utilities are not included with the rent here... Can't your roommates sublet the empty room to have someone pay 1/4 of the utilities, or does your lease not allow that?
 
#9
if u have a verbal contract with ur roomies that everything will be split evenly (1/4 is yours).. I am afraid that because the lease is not up yet, you will have to pay just coz you made that commitment....
 
#11
I would pay the 1/4. Unless you guys have agreed that if you moved out earlier so your rate for those months would go down, you signed up for one year of everything. It's like you own an apartment but have a two month vacation, you still gotta pay for rent and utilities.
 
#12
pursedoc said:
pay your fair share. in the long run, the friendship is worth way more than the extra $$$ you'll shell out
Click to expand...

Agreed. I also have three roommates and my utilities/electric comes out to $50 a month for my share. I would just pay it rather than cause angst. Well worth it!
 
#13
I can certainly see your point and don't think you should pay the pse&g bill if you aren't there to use the electric and gas. But, I agree with others, if they insist I would just pay up to keep peace.
 
#14
pursedoc said:
pay your fair share. in the long run, the friendship is worth way more than the extra $$$ you'll shell out
Click to expand...

Honestly, If they were my friends, i would pay up, our friendship means more than some money

but these are actually random roommates that I never really got to talk during the whole year...and the one who feels that i should pay is the one i've had problems all year (but i've never confronted her about it...maybe i should have) So it's like i have nothing to lose...since she is not my friend...(if u knew how disgusting she was, you would understand)

also i never had a verbal agreement about the utilities

the utilities are not included in the rent (if it were and it was a flat rate every month, i would pay) but it's not, it's about how much you consume....since i feel like i'm not going to consume any, i'll be paying more for their share...

this is how i see it, it's as if we bought groceries together all year long, we split it 4 ways, but then i decide to move out for 2 months...do they expect me to keep on paying for groceries when i'm not going to be consuming any? I see power/water as quantity used, and i feel as if they shouldn't mind, b/c i'm not asking them to pay for what i consume, just what they use. (and like i said before, i'm willing to pay for my portion of the cable, b/c it is a flat rate, not consumption wise)

as for subleasing the apartment, it's very hard in a college town to find someone to sublease your apartment for the summer since everyone pretty much goes home, i tried and i couldn't find anyone...also i think we are not supposed to sublease anyways...

as for the vacation scenario, there would be no water bill, or power bill since there would be no consumption of any water or power, and if there was it would be extremely minimal, not a full months amount...and i have already stated that i was willing to pay like minimal base charges (just as if i were going to go on vacation and there was minimal consumption)
 
#15
I don't think you should pay for utilities. You're not there to use it. Anything you are involved with in a contract, you are binded by. That means cable, but as far as the rest, I don't see how you can be obligated to pay it. After all, if it was only you in the apartment, you would probably shut it off.

Money is money. I can say that I've lost friends over disagreements of money. But what is fair is that you hold up what you signed for, everything else, you're not. I once had a roomate where I had to move out early and I kept the utilities since she didn't want to put it in her name. Guess who never paid me back for her share?
 
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