topic Re: Credit ruined by college "friends" who didnt pay rent for a year--I NEED HELP!!! in Rebuilding Your Credit

Credit ruined by college "friends" who didnt pay rent for a year--I NEED HELP!!!

gradschoolbound — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:19:54 GMT

During this past year I moved into my first apartment off campus with two of my close friends at my university. Everything was going well with the apartment and what not until the rent was due at the beginning of the month. Not only did they not pay rent for that month, but for the rest of the year we were there. Every month the rent was paid very very late and judgements were placed on my credit report due to the fact that we went to court for un paic rent. Of all three of us, I was the only roommate paying my rent on time. The funny thing was is that I expected them to pay rent one time with their names on the lease, boy was I wrong.

To make a long story short, I ended up moving out of the apartment in January. I tried my best to get my name off the lease but I couldn't because there was always a balance. Now my two "friends" as well as my self is being sued by the leasing property for nearly $6,000 in unpaid rent, attorney & court fees. I had nothing to do with the accrued amount of unpaid rent. Legally yes, but technically no. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!

Before this problem came about, my credit score was excellent!! I was pre-approved for anything. Someone please give me some advice on what to do to dispute the judgements on my credit report.

Re: Credit ruined by college "friends" who didnt pay rent for a year--I NEED HELP!!!

Anonymous — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:18:59 GMT

Legally is all that matters..for a situation like this....SORRY!!!...I would turn around and sue them...

Re: Credit ruined by college "friends" who didnt pay rent for a year--I NEED HELP!!!

Anonymous — Thu, 22 May 2008 13:34:42 GMT

gradschoolbound wrote:
During this past year I moved into my first apartment off campus with two of my close friends at my university. Everything was going well with the apartment and what not until the rent was due at the beginning of the month. Not only did they not pay rent for that month, but for the rest of the year we were there. Every month the rent was paid very very late and judgements were placed on my credit report due to the fact that we went to court for un paic rent. Of all three of us, I was the only roommate paying my rent on time. The funny thing was is that I expected them to pay rent one time with their names on the lease, boy was I wrong.

To make a long story short, I ended up moving out of the apartment in January. I tried my best to get my name off the lease but I couldn't because there was always a balance. Now my two "friends" as well as my self is being sued by the leasing property for nearly $6,000 in unpaid rent, attorney & court fees. I had nothing to do with the accrued amount of unpaid rent. Legally yes, but technically no. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!

Before this problem came about, my credit score was excellent!! I was pre-approved for anything. Someone please give me some advice on what to do to dispute the judgements on my credit report.

Have you been sued or are you being sued?

Re: Credit ruined by college "friends" who didnt pay rent for a year--I NEED HELP!!!

gradschoolbound — Thu, 22 May 2008 19:38:18 GMT

Excuse me for not making this clearer. The judgements that are on my credit report are from past court dates when the leasing office had sued us three for unpaid rent for every month. When we didn't pay for the October rent in full, they took us to court in the beginning of November, so on and so forth. Now the leasing company is suing us for unpaid rent from the month of January to April when my "friends" were evicted.

Re: Credit ruined by college "friends" who didnt pay rent for a year--I NEED HELP!!!

aftermath — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:35:21 GMT

gradschoolbound wrote:
Excuse me for not making this clearer. The judgements that are on my credit report are from past court dates when the leasing office had sued us three for unpaid rent for every month. When we didn't pay for the October rent in full, they took us to court in the beginning of November, so on and so forth. Now the leasing company is suing us for unpaid rent from the month of January to April when my "friends" were evicted.

Sorry to say but.. even though you moved out, if your name was still on the lease, you're legally liable. It all comes down to the contracts and paperwork in the end. Judges will seldom rule out hard cold facts/evidence (lease contract) over reason/logic (you no longer living there).

Re: Credit ruined by college "friends" who didnt pay rent for a year--I NEED HELP!!!

Anonymous — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:47:49 GMT

As for the judgments that is already appearing, the only thing I can suggest is trying to work out a PFD on them. You pay and they have the judgments removed. I am not sure how this works( if it takes going back to court, their attorney filing something, etc).
As for the current lawsuit, if you can PIF or negotiate something to pay before court, you might save yourself another judgment.
As for the roommates who did not pay, if you can prove you were all 3 on the lease and prove you paid your part, then take them to court.

Re: Credit ruined by college "friends" who didnt pay rent for a year--I NEED HELP!!!

llecs — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:19:48 GMT

I'd talk to an attorney for a consult anyway. Maybe your state has a law or remedy that could help.

I know how you feel though. I signed a lease on a house in college with 3 other roomies. Unfortunately, after we signed, 2 financially bailed on us and my teenie-tiny non-income didn't go too far. Unfortunately we didn't have any family who could help. We tried to pay our half share and not the other half but our landlord said that he would evict us and sue for the entire year's rent (which is legal in VA). So, we came up with an idea to get the lease nullified by finding a loophole in VA's laws by pointing to the landlord many many "safety" violations. He refused to repair them (about 12 of them, some very serious) and the lease became void. On the night the lease was voided, we bailed and removed everything to a new apartment. The landlord came in the next day and removed (and kept) all of our roommates stuff. They were mad! But we didn't have to pay their share anymore.