How to move out of a apartment 1.5 months before the lease ends when my roommate is bringing all her family in?

Question

I signed a lease last August with two other girls. One of them moved out of the apartment within a month. The other one has been living with her sister (whose name is not on the lease). Also, her husband comes iin the apartment every two or three weeks for 3-4 days and has sometimes even stayed for almost a month. Her sister and her husband, both have the key to the apartment and her sister gets her mail here itself and all her belongings are here only. 

Now she is telling me that her parents are also going to come here. Her father will leave in 2-3 weeks but her mother will stay till September. The lease ends onAug 31st. I can't live with a big family for over 6 weeks and also didn't want to stop her parents from moving in. So I decided to quietly move out of the apartment. Then, my roommate threatened me that she will drag me to the court if I move out without paying the rent for the rest of the lease period. I don't get it. Why should I pay half the rent when she, her sister and her parents are living here (even though she says they will stay in her room only, which is impossible). What legal situation am I in under these circumstances. If my roommate does try to sue me for the rest of the rent, do I have a point of saying that her whole family was living there??? Please help.

R P · Accepted Answer

If she brings her family in, all of you are subject to eviction.

1. That is too many people to be living in a 2 or even 3 BR apartment. HUD allows 2 people per bedroom .
2. She does not have permission from the landlord to have all those people living in HIS property. She cannot just move people in without permission!
3. Is the third roommate who moved out still on the lease? That will help your situation in regard to too many people living there since she legally still has access to the apartment.

Rick B · Answer

Have the landlord explain to her that she can't bring those people in.  The lease typically will list all the residents.

She is breaking the lease.  If she wants all her family there, then she should pay the full rent.  Tell her you will report her violation if she makes waves.

BUT, keep in mind that if she does not pay the full rent, the landlord could come after you for the full amount.  They will go after each person on the lease.  You are each 100% responsible for the ENTIRE rent (regardless of how you worked out the split among yourselves).

Anonymous · Answer

You signed a legal contract promising you would pay through the term. She has you on that one. What you have HER on, is this overcrowded apartment. The ownership needs to be brought up to speed about what is going on in this apartment. They would not be happy about their utilities being used by so many people, about overcrowding and occupancy regulations. Call your landlord and drop them a line. Please read your lease regarding additional residents and handling of guests. She is most likely in violation of the lease as written, or occupancy regulations in your town. At least your lease is up soon.

? · Answer

Wait until everyone is there, then let the landlord know how many are actually staying there.  If you're lucky, you'll all get evicted due to overcrowding.  It's not a nice thing to happen, but you might get lucky and not have to cough up for the outstanding rent.

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How to move out of a apartment 1.5 months before the lease ends when my roommate is bringing all her family in?

4 Answers