dear nica,
my question regards roommate etiquette. my roommate and i have lived together for a year and get along great. we both decided 4 or 5 months back that we were both going to move out at the end of this may… neither of us was sure where we were gonna go but that moving out by june 1st was our understanding. time went on and i’ve decided to stay in the apartment into the summer, on april 24th my roommate told me she’s only gonna be in the apartment for the first two weeks of may, and since she’s only going to be there for half the month she thinks she only has to pay half her rent. this gives me less than a week to come up with half of her rent. she and i get along great and i don’t think she realizes she kind of screwing me over here. i know there’s no law i can say she’s breaking, but i just want to ask and make sure that this isn’t something a roommate would normally get a way with and that i would be justified in asking that she pay her full rent.

thanks for any advice in advance,
- high and dry in milwaukee

Dear High and Dry

Speaking from experience of moving 6 times in the last three years, and having had 12 roommates in that same time period, I would have to say that the protocol is, she has to give you a month’s notice, AND if it’s before the lease is up she is responsible for finding someone to take over until the lease expries (never mind the fact that there are only two weeks left on it, in fact that is all the more reason why it is her responsibility to find a subletter, since I imagine it would be hard to find someone for that short a period, unless you are open to the option into turning bedroom # 2 into a homier version of a no-tell motel and charging by the hour). I would also say that as your friend she should be expected to honor the agreement the two of you made to stay in the place through the end of May. But at the very least it is her duty as a roommate to cover the rent through the 24th, and make some sort of arrangements to take care of things until the 1st. One month is standard, there’s no way around that, to act otherwise will result in bad roommate karma, which, depending on your inclination, you can give her a preview of in your remaining weeks together. If you need creative suggestions in that regard, let me know.

Nica