_Moving Guide_
Law: Co-tenants share liability
■ Continued from Page 3B
the landlord is taking any deposits or
fees, ask what they’re for. If the written
agreement doesn’t say what they’re for,
add an explanation and have it initialed
by all parties.
5) Roommates. Review the roommate
survival manual down at the Rental Infor
mation Office (or look at their home page:
http://oregon.uoregon.edu/~rio/
Understand that co-tenants are jointly
and severally liable for things. That
means that if one of you flakes out, skips
town, or bums the house down, the land
lord can sue whichever tenant has the
most money for what his or her co-tenant
did.
Understand also that co-tenants are
“co-adventurers.” That means that if you
vacate during the middle of a lease term,
you still owe your co-tenants your share
of the rent until they replace you.
And they don’t have to replace you at
all if they can’t find a new person with
whom they get along.
6) Move-in inventory. Do one! See
move-out inventory above. Do a move-in
inventory to protect yourself from being
charged at the end of the tenancy for
problems that existed when you moved
in.
One common complaint I hear is, “My
landlord’s charging me $300 for cleaning.
But I cleaned before I moved out, and the
place was a pigsty when I moved in.”
Technically, you’re only liable if you
don’t return the premises as clean as you
received them. The problem arises when
there is documentation of the premises
condition at the end of the tenancy, but
not at the beginning.
Do an inventory at commencement. Be
thorough. Be picky. Get the landlord to
sign it. KEEP A COPY!
If anything is dirty enough or broken
enough that it will show up in a picture,
take a picture. If you have to spend time
cleaning, keep a log of your time and
receipts for any cleaning expenses.
Send the landlord a letter noting these
expenditures of time and money noting
that you will want them taken into
account at the end of the tenancy during
the deposit refund process.
7) Complaints/Repair Requests. When
ever you make one, confirm it with a
written note, and keep a copy of it. Expe
rience has shown that verbal requests are
not acted on as promptly as written ones.
John Davidson is an attorney in the
ASUO Legal Services office. Legal Ser
vices provides advice and representation
to university students on a wide range of
legal issues — including landlord/tenant
disputes.
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