non-payment on lease

[Anonymous]

My kid's a college student and her roommate is a deadbeat. Both their names are on the lease. If she just stops paying and advises landlord of the problem (deadbeat roommate) and states she is moving out 5 months before lease ends, what are ramifications (assuming landlord reports non-payment to credit reporting agency)? How long does ding on her credit score last? Will it affect her possible future application to law school/graduate school? Thanks for any advice.

[haulingthescoreup]

Pretty much every awful thing that you can think of might happen. First of all would be late payment reports on her credit report: 30 day, then 60 day, then 90 day, then 120 days, and then collections. All of these will remain on her credit reports for 7 years after they are first reported. And she absolutely does not want to get into the whole collections nightmare.

edit to add: and unless she is planning on writing a check for grad school or law school, good luck getting student loans with this on her credit reports. If she walks away from a 9-month or 1-year lease, she is not going to be regarded as a good risk for anything like a student loan from a halfway reputable lender.

I'm assuming that this is not one of those new student apartment complexes where each roommate has his/her own lease? One possibility is for her to check with student services at her college and ask if they know of anyone who can advise students in her situation. This is such a common situation with students that there must be someone on campus who could give her pointers. Some sort of "Office of Student Life," or something. She might need to be persistent to find the right people.

I don't think that law schools do credit reports, but there is something with this involved in actually becoming an attorney --a character statement or something.

She needs to get this fixed somehow. If there is absolutely no other way out, she needs to get a loan for her half of the last 5 months of the rent, and have the landlord agree IN WRITING that payment of this amount will satisfy her obligations to the lease. And then stick that document in a bank vault. Believe me, that would be cheap in comparison to what will happen if she walks away and it goes to collections.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 02-07-2008 04:31 PM

[Dawn]

You have my greatest sympathies as you struggle to try to help your daughter with this situation.  I just went through the same thing myself. 

I agree with Hauling ... this needs to get taken care of, if at all possible, without it ending up in collections.  Is the room-mate willing to move out without forcing an eviction?  Can the room-mate be replaced with the management's approval?

It's amazing sometimes how helpful the apartment manager can be when they know the situation. It would be worth a conversation with the manager to find out what the options are, and how realistic it is to relet the apartment asap, if it comes to that.  That alone, will reduce the financial burden on anyone who has to walk away from a lease.

Every apartment community is different and they don't all follow the letter of the law as far as what they can do when breaking a lease.  Some ... as in my DS's case actually have a heart and it shows in how they handle the situation.  He was charged less than they could have charged him, but everything seems to be settled satisfactorily.  He's flat broke ... but his credit record is intact and at this point in his life.

However, the credit related issue isn't the only one to consider.  Apartment communities report broken leases (if the tenants don't pay up) to companies similar to CRAs, that track tenant history.  Many will not rent to individuals with an unresolved broken lease in their tenant history. 

Hopefully in this case, a new room-mate can be brought in and breaking the lease won't be necessary.  If not, if funding is available to cover the room-mate's obligation, your daughter could pursue the other student in small claims court.

I do hope your daughter finds a satisfactory solution.

[modernsurrender]

I once had to move out and was on a lease with two other girls.  In my situation a friend of one of the roommates had stolen my rent and blah blah blah.

In short I talked it over with my roommates, we talked to the leasing office and I got released from the lease by management.  The three of us and the manager had to sign a form to remove me.  We all kept a copy.

Is she on good enough terms with the roommate to get them to do this?  Would the roommate have a friend who could take her place?  Perhaps the three of them could go into the leasing office together and try to swap out your child with the deadbeat's friend?

I personally, would NOT have your daughter go into the leasing office and say I need to move out because my roommate is a deadbeat please release me from the lease.  That's basically telling them, you're not getting any money from him OR money from me if you let me go.  I honestly doubt they'll do anything about it if you present the issue in that manner.