I subletted from a girl who posted an ad on craigslist for a room for july-aug. She said that in addition to rent for 2 months, I was to pay the cable bill (she said about $40 a month) and the electric bill (about x a month). I agreed - rent paid to her at beginning of month, cable and electric bill to roommate X at end of month. At the end of the first month, I paid for the cable bill ($40). Then the cable was shut off for 2 weeks because roommate X hadn't paid the bill in months and had a due balance in the $400 range. So I didn't have internet for 2 weeks, even though I needed it for school, and I had paid my portion of the bill, but I never complained. During this time, roommate X is emotionally abusive and demands that I clean this apt (which was truly filthy when I moved -- sticky floors, carpets with crumbs that have been there for months, and home to a rat. I freaked when I saw the rat and he was like, "yeah, i know. it's been here for a while" - EW! they didn't put in any effort to even clean up food that the rat was eating. dishes stacked everywhere, and I never ate at home. it was rancid, and filthy, and i'm generally a messy person. midway through the 2nd month, rommmate x got bedbugs! and moved all of the infected items (linens, etc.) to the only common area -- the kitchen. ew. i didn't complain, i was just counting the days until i got to leave and spent as little time at home as possible.
Midway through the first month, I noticed that roommate X had air conditioning and asked roommate Y if we were expected to all pay an even split for the cable bill and he said he hadn't thought about that, and that I raised a valid point. Y said he was under the impression a family member was paying for X's exorbitant electric bill. Y said that he hadn't been asked to pay the electric bill since he had been there (3 months of summer -- he's also subletting, X is the only permanent resident). He said he would ask (they're friends, I'm not friends with X or Y, just subletting for 2 months, but am very friendly with Y). X is very emotionally abusive towards me and "roughs me up" often), but he didn't, and I forgot about it. We also had another roommate (Z), who was there for the first 2.5 months of summer, and moved out 2 weeks ago. Since X never asked me to pay for the cable bill at the end of the 1st month, I never mentioned it since I figured that what Y had guessed (that a family member was paying for it -- he has no job, hes just partying and slugging around for the summer, smokes pot all the time and gets a booty call every night) was true. the other day he left out the cable bill and the electric company's warning that they're going to shut off the electricity (which will shut off sept 8, which means I would be paying for a week after I've left, and who knows how many weeks before I arrived), I guess for us to see. It said that there was a couple hundred due and it seemed like it hadn't been paid in a long time (previous payment - 0; due - 400ish) Now today, as I'm packing to leave, he knocks on my door and ask for the $125. I'm kind of shocked and he asks when I can pay. I say I can't today, it's Sunday, the bank is closed. Now I'm not sure what to do --- he's been abusive this whole time, steals my food and then psychotically accuses me of stealing his, uses my toiletries, leaves the place in filth and then verbally attacks me out of nowhere and tells me to clean up. I also don't have that money.... I had to borrow money from a friend to get a few cans of beans to eat the other night for dinner -- I have $0.47 in my account -- not even enough to get a train to school or moving boxes, and my job ended a week ago.
So this has been a nightmare - absolute filthy living condition, legitimately delusional roommate who verbally abuses me, rats, bed bugs, and myself doing an unfair amount of work, while they do negative work, only contributing to the filth. And I wasn't under the impression that there was AC when I moved in and when I found out I was convinced by Y that we wouldn't have to pay for it. And I don't have the money for it. I don't know these people, I'm just in the city for the summer, and he has made it h**l - he made my cry once, and I felt generally unsafe the whole time. So what do I do? i don't feel like it's fair, and I wouldn't have agreed to pay for such an inflated electric bill it if I knew that when I moved in. And the amount -- $400 -- is split between 3, not 4, and I was here for 2 months, and roommate Z was here for 2.5( X,Y, and Z are friends though, and go to school together and live in the city year round) And it obviously hasn't been payed in a while, so I would probably be paying for more than the 2 months.
The leas ends sept. 1st., and everyone is moving out, and I'm going back to school in another state. What should I do?
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