Have you heard this before???

Sage · Mar 2005

I just got this news from one of my roomates. I have two roomates which are married. She, my sister, stated that she had calculated the rent wrong since she had based it on the number of people living in the condo and not the rooms of the condo. She said the rent is supposed to be calculated by the number of rooms in the condo and not the number of people living there. So basically she wants me to pay half the rent instead of a third of the rent like I have been doing for over a year. So acoording to her I should be paying 600 bucks a month instead of 300. Any thoughts on this are very welcome.

Alex

Frank · Mar 2005

Well, if $300 is a third of the rent, $600 is not half the rent, so she just wants more money from you or is trying to get you to leave so she can live alone with her husband.

And rent is 'calculated' as 'how much the landlord thinks he can get for it.' Typically in a roommate situation each pays an equal share of the rent, that would be a third for you, a third for her, and a third for her husband. There's no rule for calculating rent as far as I know, though.

Frank the Avenger

jzero · Mar 2005

Unless you are going to pull the old "Laverne and Shirley" gag where you draw lines on the floor to determine who can use what space in the place, I would disagree with the square-footage plan. Your sister's argument falls apart if you consider that no matter how many rooms the place has, there are still three people using them. Unless your brother-in-law just stays in one little room all the time, while you and your sister use equal amounts of the rest of the place, it's a three-way split.

You can reason that if three people are using a roughly equal amount of the living space, i.e. each person uses one bedroom and bathroom, and the living and kitchen spaces are shared in a roughly equal manner, then that justifies a three-way split. I'm sure you don't 'consume' the space like two people, the way your sis and bro-in-law do.

Tell her you see right through her 'cunning plan' to get you to shoulder half the rent. Is your income equal to theirs, perhaps? Didn't think so.

/jzero

Hunter · Mar 2005

Yeah sounds like a tricky one here.. One thing that sucks is depending on your relationship with your sister already, something like arguing over rent / money / living arrangements etc can drive a wedge into a family.. be careful..

NOW..

some interesting advice..

Im not sure where you live.. but here in NYS there are certain "housing" rules that many are unaware of, regarding what constitutes a "legal" resident. Basically if you live in a premise for more than 30 days (which according to your story you have) you ARE a legal resident.. What does that mean.. Technically your sister (or her landlord) can't get rid of you without EVICTING you via a court proceeding.. that is, going to court and getting an order for it. (if landlord is successful, then a tenant has a certain time frame to leave voluntarily (with their belongings) or, they can seek help from the Sheriff or Marshall who will gladly evict the tenant for you. (In laymans terms, they'll kick your ass out to the curb and toss your $hit out into the street, LOL). The process time to do all this varies, depending on where you are from (but here in NY could be days, weeks, or YEARS)

That means even if you decided you werent going to pay any rent ( and let your sister and brother -in-law pay it ALL) they can't do anything to you without getting you evicted..

They can't try to get you to leave by making life miserable either. For instance, shutting off your water, power, heat etc, or changing the locks on you to keep you out. This constitutes an "illegal eviction" and will either get them a nice criminal court summons, or an arrest..

(Whoohoo doesnt that make it easy for your family, friends or houseguests to screw you bad if you let them stay for a mere 31 days or more ??) There are ways you have to prove your residence, like photo ID, utility bills, certain mail etc.. but people always seem to be able to establish that..

My advice...hmmmmm. Personally I wouldn't want to live with my sister and her husband (if mine were married) because by sister could be the biggest Pain in the ass, and who the hell wants to be in the next room while your brother-in -law is, "kickin-it" with your sibling. (UGH!).

Oh yea,.. Don't ever let friends or family stay with you for more than 30 days if you live here in NYS, unless you absolutely know, without a doubt, that you won't get caught in a crappy situation like this..

Rick Stirling · Mar 2005

I'd tell her to wise the heid, she is just trying to rip you off. Rent is equal per person. Always.

AstroZombie · Mar 2005

Yea, sounds like bullshit to me. I'd start looking for a new place.

Curious - what about the size of the rooms? Is their bedroom larger than yours? Do they have a master bath off of their bedroom? If so, you could argue that you should actually be paying less than them

Sage · Mar 2005

Well more info:
She owns the place. I don't get to claim taxes on my rent. I mostly live in my room since my sister's significant other makes my life a living hell already. I live here since I can't afford to live anywhere else, unless I leave this state which is what I should of done when I finished school and not believed that I could be roomates with my sister. Nothing like experience... Frank the Avenger the missing 100 dollars go to me in a way cause I get a cleaning discount. I clean 90 % of the place and they dirty the hell out of it. It would be quite funny except it not. Quite frankly it pretty sad considering I'm supposed to be the one that is messy in the family. My room is usually cleaner and neater than the rest of the house since they just throw shit all over the place. what's worse is the rent and utilitles are separate. GRRRR. Later.

Alex

TNSLB · Mar 2005

When I shared a 3 bedroom house with my brother and a roomate and then my brother's fiance moved in, rent went from being split 3 ways to being split 4 ways. Same with the utilities (long distance calls were seperate of course).

oXYnary · Mar 2005

Sage: Then if you are only using one room. There is no possible justification for what she is pulling. Even if it was based on rooms. Its based on the size of the rooms, and what is used. She owns the place, she has full access. You do not.

Unless you state then you want $300 credit a month towards rent for cleaning up.

The only two options I can think of if shes not playing "fair".

1. Move out.
2. (This is drastic I know) Call your parents and complain.

Malekyth · Mar 2005

I can see it making sense both ways, but yeah, traditionally, it's an even split. If they want to crowd both their shares into one room, that's their thang.

Have you heard this before???

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