ROOMMATE MOVED OUT
My name is Sandra, I have a huge problem with my roommate. The situation is this, I moved into this place about 2 months ago. When I moved in, I was never told to pay deposit or anything. Just my first months rent and a $25 fee for "adding a roommate" to the current lease.
Our lease is up this month and my roommate just told me that she is leaving. She said I could do one of three things.
1. Move out
2. Get a new roommate
3. Sign the lease by myself and stay in the apartment.
She then proceeded to tell me that I have to pay deposit back to her because the office told her if I wasn't moving out they were not required to give her any type of deposit until I moved out.
Before I moved in she had a roommate that she had gone in on a lease together and they EACH paid half the first months rent and half the deposit. (That roommate later left which is why I moved in.) The deposit is $700. In which case they each forked over $350 for their own deposit. But she is still trying to get me to pay her $700 the full amount of deposit.
I called the office and the manager said that my roommate only paid $350 for deposit. They also informed me that before I moved in my roommate and her ex roommate had collected late fees in the amount of $276. The office manager gave me the advice and told me that if it were her she would pay the roommate half of the deposit but take off the late fees.
So basically I would pay my roommate the $350- $276 which is a total of $74.
I explained this all to my roommate and she freaked out and started telling me that she herself paid the first months rent and the entire $700 deposit because at the time her roommate didn't have the money to fork over to the office. She insists I pay her $700- $276 rounds to a total of $424. BUT there are multiple damages to the apartment that were there before I moved in and the office informed me that I should deduct all of those costs as well. EXAMPLE: carpet cleaning $95, cleaning $50, and any other damages.
My roommate keeps telling me that just because the office said she paid $350 doesn't mean she did not pay the $700. BUT the office has her name and her ex roommates names down with each paying $350 at the lease signing.
I decided that this was just too confusing and too many variables and told my roommate she could wait till I moved out and keep the $700 deposit check.
She called me saying that when and if I move out the check will come in my name.
I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place and I don't know what to do.
PLEASE HELP!!!!! ASAP!!!!