My lease isn't up until July 31, but I will be moving out of my apartment tomorrow. My roommate comes in and tells me not to forget to leave blank checks for the utilities this summer, and I said no and that's ridiculous. I told him I shouldn't have to pay for utilities I don't even use. nevertheless, he's pissed.

Am I missing something here? Why should anyone think I should pay for electricity usage I didn't even use? Is he BSC or what?

Troll.
But yes, of course you owe utilities until July 31. You have a signed contract that states your fiscal responsibilties until that time.

I wouldn't leave blank checks with him, but yes, you're liable for your share

do you plan on paying your part of the rent? or are you trying to get out of that too? I mean, you're not even going to be there using the space so why are paying rent?

I'm paying my share of the rent because I know he won't be reaping the benefits of my space. But considering our apartment is billed by the unit number for utilities and they don't care who writes the check, my other roommate and I think it's odd we'd pay for a third of his usage when neither of us are even there.

Why would he have to pay more just because you'd rather go home to mommy and relive high school?

well, his mom is pretty fun to play high school with.

It is called responsibility...of course you have to pay your third. But, don't leave a blank check.

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Why would he have to pay more just because you'd rather go home to mommy and relive high school?

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Actually I graduated and am in the process of moving my things into my own apartment elsewhere. I just unfortunately can't get out of the last two months of my contract...which sucks.

and I'm not trying to get out of paying anything if I'm in the wrong...so I'm glad I asked. It just doesn't seem like it's that big of a stretch to believe because we are billed as a unit and not individually, the person actually living there should be responsible for the electricity.

Although you won't be using the utilities, you should pay your fraction. If he wants his fraction of the house cool in the summer, he has to cool your unused fraction of the house as well. Many college kids are on a budget and they have roommates for that reason. There's a chance that he budgeted to be splitting bills equally with you and whoever else was living with you when y'all decided to live together. Just because you're moving out doesn't mean your share of the utility bill will go away. That said, DO NOT LEAVE BLANK CHECKS. You should send him a check when he gets the utility bill and notifies you of your portion.

[This message has been edited by TxAg20 (edited 5/22/2010 1:07p).]

If you are technically still on the lease, you should expect to pay your part of the base charges, but not the usage. That is a fair expectation for your roommate to have.

Rent: Pay

Water & Sewage: Pay, not like it's expensive

Gas: Same as water

Electricity: Pay the share of the fees, taxes, but not usage (maybe agree to a lower percentage)

Cable/Internet: Pay. You agreed to timeline of service and is not calculated by usage(yet).

Telephone: People still have land lines?

I agree about paying for internet and cable, but my roommate is going to Austin for the last month of the lease, and we aren't making him pay...

Closing up the vent in his room, and keeping his lights off, he's not adding to the cost.

^ Closing the vent in his room will add to the cost, not subtract from it.

so when he went out of town for a weekend you fixed it so you covered the cost of utilities for that 48 hour period right?

freaking pay or sublease. this is a good life lesson.

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^ Closing the vent in his room will add to the cost, not subtract from it.

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Closing the vent means that less to almost non of the ac goes into his room, and shutting the door keeps the heat in, therefore not affecting the temperature of the house so the thermomstat doesnt run out of the ordinary. Good idea to close the vent and shut the door to the room.

Like someone said, average the bills, and pay that amount. That seems to be very fair to all parties. Just cause you leave the one roomate shouldnt have to live uncomfortably to make it affordable to live there the summer. Trust me, it sucks when that happens.

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Closing the vent means that less to almost non of the ac goes into his room, and shutting the door keeps the heat in, therefore not affecting the temperature of the house so the thermomstat doesnt run out of the ordinary. Good idea to close the vent and shut the door to the room.

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lolololololol

I had this happen in college...imo...if you are on the lease you pay utilities. Cable? Maybe it's something you discuss, but water/electric you must pay.

I live in an apartment with 3 other guys. I currently have an agreement with the 1 guy who lives there for the summer that the rest of us will pay a smaller portion because if he weren't living there the bill would be considerably lower. I will pay probably 15% instead of 25% I think.

The guy living there acted like that was completely expected and fair...I guess I should be more thankful for that.

eff that noise.


You arent there using the electricity, dont pay it.

So, you're going to stick him with the whole bill during 2 of the most expensive months of the year? Awesome.

If you went out of town for 2-3 weeks, would you expect to be let out of the bills?

hes moved out and never going back why should he pay for all of "his share" of electric?


maybe 10% of the bills

Why the **** would you pay for a portion of the electric bill if you weren't using any of the electricity?

Did some of you guys just not pay the December bills when everyone went home.

Tell him to tape the AC vent in your room shut, and your not paying for jack ****.


I'm sorry if your not living there and using them, it's not your responsibility unless you signed a contract with him. I especially wouldn't even offer on something like cable/internet. Nor on water/gas. Electricity they MIGHT get a little money out of me on but not likely.

When I moved out and had them on in my name, I made no qualms about the fact I had moved out, settled my account with the landlord, and they had better get power, etc. on in there name cause it was getting shut off in mine...




[This message has been edited by Ag_of_08 (edited 5/23/2010 4:30a).]

Yeah. Be a jackass about it. That works wonders.

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Tell him to tape the AC vent in your room shut, and your not paying for jack ****.


I'm sorry if your not living there and using them, it's not your responsibility unless you signed a contract with him. I especially wouldn't even offer on something like cable/internet. Nor on water/gas. Electricity they MIGHT get a little money out of me on but not likely.

When I moved out and had them on in my name, I made no qualms about the fact I had moved out, settled my account with the landlord, and they had better get power, etc. on in there name cause it was getting shut off in mine...

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You are a top notch roommate and obviously a stand-up fellow. I'm guessing you don't see your old roommates much anymore.

poor planning on your part...."pay that man his money"

Woah...i'm with the op on this...when i moved out of my apt i paid my half of the rent and all my roommate and i had to pay for was electricity.

i didn't pay for electricity the months i was there since i wasn't there. sounded fair to me.

[This message has been edited by Verne Lundquist (edited 5/23/2010 1:57p).]

The only problem with that is even if neither of you were there, there would be some cost for electricity...you would still get a bill, even if it was really small.

Some of you need to turn in your Ag tags.

It's called being a responsible person.

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You are a top notch roommate and obviously a stand-up fellow. I'm guessing you don't see your old roommates much anymore.

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Since that roommate accuse me of stealing, left nasty food all over the kitchen and blamed me, and drug a girl in to live with us but refuse to pay an extra share of the rent, I don't give a sheet?