out of control roommate, joint lease, utilities
alright, my girlfriend is having serious issues with her roommate. before they moved in, everything looked clean, no red flags, papers went through without a problem. within two weeks of moving in, her roommate threw a huge party, far over capacity stated in the lease, and her roommate's friends trashed the carpet, the kitchen floor, left bottles literally from one end of the kitchen counter to the other, and threw bottles off the balcony across the parking lot and in front of the door, before they all left (pictures of all the damages were taken). when her roommate returned the next day from classes and saw the damage and the fine, she said "awww, epic!". she was fined by the landlord for the cleanup of the grounds they trashed, but the landlord refused to enter the unit and note the damages to the interior when he was told about the condition of the unit.
since then, the roommate has refused to pay bills on time. trying to get her to pay the cable and gas bills (in my girlfriends name) was like pulling teeth. finally my girlfriend bargained with her to pay only for gas and internet. she agreed, but is still constantly late.
a few weeks back, the power bill (in her roommates name) arrived for the first time. the reason the bill was late was the fact that the roommate told the power company the apartment was located in "new DeKalb" when it is really in "DeKalb", and somehow the power company didn't understand "new DeKalb" didn't exist, but somehow they provided service. so one letter was the bill, the other was a disconnect notice. when confronted, she told my girlfriend that she owed $300 of a $600 bill.
upon calling the power company, my girlfriend was told that the balance included a past balance from her roommates former address, bringing my girlfriends half down to $150. after finding out about this, and calling her roommate, her roommate began threatening to block my girlfriend on her phone so that she couldn't get ahold of her.
the roommate claims she called the power company and got the bill extended, but my girlfriend received an email from the landlord stating that the power company contacted him and that they are threatening to shut off the power tomorrow, and that she will be held responsible for burst pipes and damages if the power is shut off. Her roomate is also stating that she is not living here, but is "going to stop in at random to check on the condition of the apartment" from what we can see is her way to avoid finding another roommate so that she can break her lease, as this is the landlords rule.
so a few questions arise.
1. what is my girlfriends rights when it comes to leaving her lease due to the issue with the roomate, and does she legally have to find another tenant before terminating her lease?
2. can she indeed be held responsible for damages caused by her roommates failure to pay the electric bill in her own name?
3. is there a way to contact the power company and legally have her roommate taken off the bill and the balance (minus my girlfriends share) put into collections while my girlfriend continues the service in her name?
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