Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia
Roommate and rent money
i'm on deployment, my roommate and i have lease together. she bounces two checks for rent while i was gone, that she never paid back...the balance was only paid back when i was in formed by my friend that she found a letter in the mail my roommate had opened about the debt to our realitor. she then informed me and i then called my realitor to settle things. my realitor was going to have to turn the debt into the creditors...and being that my name was on the eease also i'm also responsible. to prevent slander to my name, i paid the balance that my roommate could not. i told her she had to pay me back, she agreed. she has just gone bankrupt and bounced another rent check that she gave to my friend in charge of my financial assets til i get back. is there anything i can do? the total of money's adds up to 1300 dollars, a pirce that i can't afford to not get back. can i sue her? will i spend more money in court fees than i'll get from her?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Roommate and rent money
You can sue her in small claims court for the $1300. The cost of filing your case should be less than $40.
Re: Roommate and rent money
Well, first we need to understand exactly what
you mean by "bankrupt." Are you using that word
figuratively, or did she literally file for
bankruptcy? If she literally filed for
bankruptcy, any debts owed before the bankruptcy,
and listed on her bankrtupcy schedule, will
probably be discharged, meaning you cannot then
collect on those debts.
Otherwise, it will be relatively easy to sue her
in small claims court (up to $2000 maximum) or
in general district court (up to $15,000). It
will help if you know her (then) current address,
but there are ways around that. The filing fee
will cost around $37. You can represent yourself,
although you do need to make sure you cover all
the bases.
To help out a member of the armed forces, even
though I am too far away to help in person, I
would be happy to tell you exactly how to
proceed for free by email.
However, when you are on active duty, it is very
hard for a creditor to sue you. Make sure they
know you are on deployment in the military.
As a result, it is very unlikely that the
creditor would get a judgment against you.
The tricky thing is that the landlord is not
going to want to let you "stay" in the
apartment without paying any rent. So the
landlord could retake posession of the apt.
Your two best options are (1) to have the
realtor find a new roommate who will pay half
the rent, or (2) have your friend move your
things into storage and save money on rent
while you are away, and get an apartment when
you return.
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