My roommate owes me around 5,000 dollars. I have had to cover costs of some bills and rent on my own over the course of our 2-year roommate agreement. We signed a lease together but have a verbal agreement about splitting utilities. I have a running ledger in our text chain of what he owes me. I would like to draft a document that List the money owed and establishes a payment arrangement. I would Also like this agreement to include a mediation clause and a arbitration clause. Is he obligated to pay this money back?
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Please keep in mind that winning a suit, especially one in small claims court, is not the same as collecting a judgement. Collecting after a win, is sometimes very difficult if not impossible.– Pete B.Commented Jun 25 at 11:08
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1do you think this deadbeat who you have propped up for 2 years will suddenly decide to sign a document saying he will pay you back? How the law works is one thing, you need to learn how people work.– Tiger GuyCommented Jun 25 at 14:21
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1 Answer
Yes, you can; you may not succeed
So, you and your roommate have a verbal agreement - do they agree that it says that the utilities will be split equally, or is that something they will dispute? If they dispute it, what evidence do you have that this was your verbal agreement? What evidence do they have that it was different? If it is only your testimony against theirs, which of you will be more believable to the small claims judge?
Do you have evidence to refute their claim that each time you let them not pay, they understood that that was a gift or a waiver of the terms of your agreement?
By all means, draft your proposed repayment schedule and include whatever dispute resolution clauses that you want. If they sign it, it will be a binding contract. If they don't, you can't make them.
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I've never lived with a roommate, but it seems to me that splitting rent and utilities evenly would be the normal, expected arrangement, so the judge would be inclined to believe it. Perhaps if the bedrooms were significantly different in size you might prorate, but no one would seriously believe that the other roommate is not expected to pay anything.– BarmarCommented Jun 26 at 19:26
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@Barmar sure, that’s probably the normal arrangement. The judge is not interested in what other people arrange, they care what particular arrangement the people in front of them had.– Dale M ♦Commented Jun 26 at 19:36
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Of course, but if it's a "your word against theirs" situation, I think the onus would probably be on the roommate to convince the judge that you agreed to such a lopsided arrangement.– BarmarCommented Jun 26 at 19:38
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"Even splitting seems so obvious and fair, I didn't think we needed to put it in writing."– BarmarCommented Jun 26 at 19:40