My Roommate Is Refusing To Pay Her Portion Of Rent

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice about a roommate rent situation in California.

I’ve lived in a 3-bedroom apartment for about 5 years and have had multiple roommates during that time without any issues. Recently, I found a new roommate after listing the open room on Facebook for $1,350/month.

When she moved in, all three of us had to sign a new lease with the landlord. The lease only lists the total rent for the apartment, not each roommate’s individual portion. In hindsight, I realize I should have drafted a separate roommate agreement, but I never had issues with that in the past.

Before moving in, she paid $1,350 for the security deposit and $1,350 for her first month’s rent (February), which matched the amount the room was listed for.

Now for March, she is refusing to pay the $1,350 and is saying the rent should be redistributed differently between the roommates.

I spoke with our landlord and he said that because all three of us signed the lease together, we are jointly responsible for the full rent amount. He also said that if one person doesn’t pay, the rest of us are still responsible for covering the total rent, and that he can’t evict just one person without terminating the entire lease.

A few questions:

- Is there any legal way to hold her responsible for her agreed portion of rent?

- If we’re on a month-to-month lease, is there any way to remove just her from the lease or force her to move out?

- If we end up covering her portion, is small claims court an option since she previously paid that amount and the room was listed for $1,350?

At this point the living situation has become pretty hostile, so I appreciate any advice on what options I might have

Thanks in advance.

Location: California