mustangsally Posted July 24, 2010 Posted July 24, 2010 Before you start balking at the price of things listed here, please keep in mind that I live in THE MOST expensive city in the US. I know it's expensive. Thanks. You don't have to tell me again. My roommate is one of my good friends, making this whole thing really difficult. When my roommate and I moved into our new apartment, the management demanded a two month rent security deposit. He put down a month and a half security deposit and I put down a half a month because of our monetary situations. We will both get that money back at the end of our lease. Cut to renting the rooms. The rooms are basically the same size, mine is a little bit larger. Because he put down so much security deposit, I started paying $1100 for my room and he paid $825, which is quite a big discrepancy, especially since his room is not that much smaller than mine. Now, he's employed and recently was hit with a paycut, but not too badly. I got very, very ill and was unable to pay rent for 3 months, but had to borrow money from my parents to make the rent. He never offered to pay more or whatever, which is fine, I guess. Our apartment is basically three bedrooms, with one of them being used as the living room. The living room is the smallest of the rooms and a friend of ours is renting it out for $350 per month. I adjusted the rent so that he would then pay $725 and I would pay $850, which would be a bit fairer. He's okay with that. However, I'm having to sublet my room for a bit to a struggling actor friend of mine. I'll only be away for about two months and I offered the room at $850. It was my preference to rent to someone I knew (coincidentally, we all happen to know this person, so it works out). My roommate insisted that I rent the room for $900 or he'd rather look for someone else who would pay that, so that he could instead pay $675 for his portion, making it another HUGE discrepancy between the rooms. The guy agreed to $900, but he's never seen the entire rent bill. He has no idea how much everyone pays, and I feel like it would be so shady to keep it from him. I know I would feel a bit played if I found out i was paying $225 more for a room that's not that much bigger. I guess it's not that big of a deal, but I feel really badly about it. I guess it's just $50, but it makes so much of a difference. What should I do? Shut up about it and not worry about it? Talk to the roommate? Tell the guy? I confused....
shlee Posted July 25, 2010 Posted July 25, 2010 (edited) It sounds like you're more concerned by the fact that your roommate pays so much less rent than everyone else. Is that an ass-umption on my part? Either way, the guy agreed to pay $900, presumably he can afford to pay that or he wouldn't have agreed, so just let it go. Don't say anything. The price is the price. If you had a problem with the "fairness" of things, the time to say something would have been to your roommate when he said he wanted $900 for the room. You're only going to potentially screw up a bunch of relationships by telling the subletter how much everyone pays. Which is one thing that leads me to believe you're looking for someone else to be outraged by the discrepancies in rent... I also really don't understand why you agreed to pay so much more rent every month either...in square footage, how much larger is your room? Or, why didn't you insist on taking the smaller room? Does the "master" room have it's own bathroom? Or do you all share one bathroom, or what? Edited July 25, 2010 by shlee
Author mustangsally Posted July 25, 2010 Author Posted July 25, 2010 (edited) Well, when we were looking at apartments, I said my price range and the max I would pay. So took that as "She'll pay x and I can pay the rest of it no matter how little that is." At first I didn't say anything because he had put so much down for the deposit and I felt badly. But now someone else is coming into the mix. No, we all share a bathroom. My room is maybe a couple square feet larger than his. My room is like 12' by 14' and his room is probably 10' by 11'. The guy did agree to pay $900, but I quoted him the lower price first and then my roommate insisted he pay $900 or he'd find someone else who would. Also, we get the bill every month put under our door. It seems shady for them to try and hide it from him. Edited July 25, 2010 by mustangsally
shlee Posted July 25, 2010 Posted July 25, 2010 (edited) You need to start speaking up for yourself. I think bringing this up with your friend will only create unnecessary drama. This is something you need to take up with your current friend/roommate, and leave the other friend/subletter out of it, if this is an issue for you. If he sees the bill then the justification for paying the higher rent is that he is staying in the largest room - I'm sure if he saw the bill that would be the conclusion he came to on his own. What was the conversation like when you came back to your friend with a higher price? Didn't he want to know why? What did you tell him? Btw, I live in an incredibly expensive city as well, and paying anywhere from $250-$400 more per month for a discrepancy in room sizes like the one you mentioned is normal; more if you're not sharing a bathroom. Edited July 25, 2010 by shlee
Author mustangsally Posted July 25, 2010 Author Posted July 25, 2010 No, he didn't ask. I actually just remeasured the rooms, his is 12' by 13' and mine is 14' by 13'. really...not that much of a difference. Plus, his room has a closet and mine doesn't. I guess I just felt like in the long run, he was the one who would be living with the person and if he insisted someone pay $900 and he pay $675, then he could just find someone else we didn't know.
shlee Posted July 25, 2010 Posted July 25, 2010 No, he didn't ask. I actually just remeasured the rooms, his is 12' by 13' and mine is 14' by 13'. really...not that much of a difference. Plus, his room has a closet and mine doesn't. I guess I just felt like in the long run, he was the one who would be living with the person and if he insisted someone pay $900 and he pay $675, then he could just find someone else we didn't know. My opinion is that if your agreement is that you pay $850 and he pay $725, then when you sublet your room for two months: 1) It is your responsibility to find someone to sublet the room to, and to make sure $850/month rent is covered by that person, or between you and that person. 2) This is not an opportunity for your other roommate to save an extra $100 for the two months the other person is subletting for (or whatever the difference ends up being) - if the agreement is that he is responsible for paying $725, then he pays $725. So no, I don't particularly think this is fair. However, I don't see how that helps you, as this appears to be a done deal, and your question is whether or not you should tell the subletter how much everyone pays. The time to speak up was when your roommate asked for more money, and before someone agreed to sublet for 2 months for $900/month. Therefore, a) I do not think you should tell the subletter, b) you should have a conversation with your friend/roommate and c) I think you are very resentful of him about this, and if you are unhappy and don't feel able to speak up for yourself, and/or think this situation is unfair, then you should think about moving out when your lease is up and not renting with this person again.
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