Q: 5 MONTH..
YES I UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO PAY FOR THE EMPTY ROOM BUT HOW IS IT OK FOR NONE OF US TO BE INFORMED BY HIM THAT THE PAYMENTS WERE NOT BEING MADE? HOW IS IT OK FOR THE LANDLORD TO JUST SECRETLY BE ADDING UP CHARGES AND NOT LET ANYONE KNOW UNTIL LAST MINUTE WHEN WE ASK A SIMPLE QUESTION AND HE IS BASICALLY SAYING "OH, BY THE WAY"
A:
First, PLEASE STOP using all caps. It is considered yelling on the internet.
Secondly, again, take your lease and documents to a local landlord-tenant attorney. Frankly, there are few attorneys hanging out in this forum, and it is difficult for any attorney to give a good answer without seeing the lease.
Third, while I understand the frustration, life does not always afford you instructions. What I mean is, if you and the prior tenants knew about empty rooms (and hard to miss that if you live there and you are the one who said there were empty rooms) and you were only paying your part of the rent, why didn't you ask the landlord if the rent was short? Typically landlords do not send monthly statements, nor are they required to, because the tenant(s) know or should know how much they owe since the amount is in the lease and via their own accounting they can figure out if they still owe anything.
Lastly, this type of situation is why it is not recommended to a place together with friends, nor to take over a lease. Also, never co-sign on a loan, as only bad things can happen to you.
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