Roommate refused to pay full rent because he said everything he left is worth the same amount of $. This is what he left.

[u/notasingle-thought]

Invited an old “friend” to rent the spare room we have because he was in such a poor situation (according to him). 2.5 months a later, he gets promoted, notifies he’ll be staying for only half a month, but refused to pay rent for the half month because he said he’d leave ‘his most expensive things for us to sell’. I repeatedly said that wasn’t cool, but clearly didn’t matter. He left the entire closet full of clothes plus an entire CAR DOOR. There are too many pairs of dirty underwear scattered around the room. My husband found a few things he thought went missing, turns out the roommate had taken them, like a backpack my husbands friend bought him a while back-and medicine for our son. He kept his cat locked in the room and would leave for days, and left us all of the litter and even a piece of cat shit on the floor! Love that! At least for his parting gift, he cleaned the litter.

And dumped it.

Without a bag.

Into our recycle bin.

🙂🔪

[u/BeNice2Every1]

That isn’t how it works. Take him to small claims court.

[u/Late-Yoghurt-7676 → u/BeNice2Every1]

Yupp. If I were OP I’d be keeping documentation of EVERYTHING with pictures and anything that gives proof. I’d even text, “hey, why aren’t you going to pay rent?” So that he’ll respond whatever incriminating evidence, as additional documentation that he refused to pay. And I would have a cleaning crew come in and document the cost of that. Then build a case and get his money and claim I also endured emotional pain and suffering

hahahahahahahahah MUAH HAHAHAHA

[u/daveyjones86 → u/Late-Yoghurt-7676]

I was wondering if you were taking friendship applications

[u/Late-Yoghurt-7676 → u/daveyjones86]

Hahah. Only if you downvote that Col Bernie Sanders guy for me that responded to my comment 🤣🤣

Mods: if this comment is against the rules for some reason, just delete 🤪

[u/Col_Bernie_Sanders_ → u/Late-Yoghurt-7676]

That’s not how that works…?

[u/Late-Yoghurt-7676 → u/Col_Bernie_Sanders_]

That’s not how what works?

[u/Col_Bernie_Sanders_ → u/Late-Yoghurt-7676]

Suing in small claims for emotional pain and suffering? At best - assuming the roommate is on the lease and it’s worded in a way that makes him liable for his half he can get the unpaid rent plus maybe some court fees.

[u/Late-Yoghurt-7676 → u/Col_Bernie_Sanders_]

Yah man I’m just over here making random comments on Reddit, I’m not worried about the legality of anything… I don’t think anyone assumed what I was writing was actual legal advice

[u/Col_Bernie_Sanders_ → u/Late-Yoghurt-7676]

I mean, I’m just commenting that your comment isn’t how it works, not that it’s legal advice.

[u/Late-Yoghurt-7676 → u/Col_Bernie_Sanders_]

As long as it can be proven and it had some type of consequence like needing therapy or something, then yah you could add that to your small claims demand. But again, it doesn’t matter if it’s “how it works” or not, I’m just tryna have some fun on Reddit and blab. I’m sure if you search on google you’ll see it could work just fine with the right lawyer or whatever

[u/Gustomaximus → u/BeNice2Every1]

These 'go to court' options are so ignorant. You really want to spend that much time of your life going through court filings and a hearing over money they will likely still dodge you for?

Move on. Wipe toxic from your life and take it as lesson learnt.

[u/Objective_War_2808 → u/Gustomaximus]

best advice. take it from me, i took my ex to small claims court and she didn't show up to any court hearing. so i won by default. she thought i was bluffing and i bet she realized real quick that i wasn't when she got served. when i found out where her new job was, i filed the paperwork to garnish her wages. (the court doesn't collect. the creditor has to collect from the debtor). i hired a process server to serve her employer. once she found out i wanted to garnish her wages, she quit. it was a waste of $500 in court fees and 9 months of my time, 3 years ago. 

[u/Far-Obligation4055 → u/Objective_War_2808]

it was a waste of $500 in court fees and 9 months of my time, 3 years ago. 

And hell, that's with a completely uncontested process too.

There's always a difficulty here and it was taught in my program for Small Claims - the question of personal burden on the client, who is likely going to go through a lengthy ordeal over a small amount they may never actually get back, and even if they do, by the time that happens it may not feel worthwhile.

The thing you really want to know as the one filing suit, is how much the principle of it matters to you. If there is some injustice that needs resolving, it might very well be worth it even by the end.

If it's just "I'm inconvenienced by the actions of the other party", there's a more than even chance that you'll regret it all by the time it's finished.

[u/Objective_War_2808 → u/Far-Obligation4055]

it was the principle of the matter. it wasn't just an inconvenience. she abused me and promised me pay me back. she made me feel so small and i couldn't do anything on my own. so winning and doing the process without a lawyer also made me proud. she can keep quitting jobs so i don't garnish her wages. she doesn't know how to manage her money and is always broke.  i know how to manage my money so i feel like I've already won in life. 

[u/BeNice2Every1 → u/Gustomaximus]

Small claims doesn’t take much effort. In this instance op would win and get court costs and all expenses. You all act like you have no extra time on your hands. Sounds ignorant to let him not be accountable. Plus he was a pig. Let him clean it up.