Refusing to pay final utilities

This won't be the popular response. But, ask yourself this: what is my sanity and time worth?

Is it worth maybe a hundred dollars for a utility bill? The headache, the time, the energy, the resources you will have to put out? And even with a court order she can still refuse to pay, which means you will have to go through the process of getting her wages garnished. This could be well over a year.

We had a roommate who was absolutely awful in all the worst ways. We finally asked him to move out, and two months later he did (because after writing "us" a letter basically attacking me, he assumed we had reconsidered without talking to us directly). There was some weights equipment he left that was ruined that would cost us about 200$ to get removed and he owed us for our last water bill, in total I think he owed 300$.

We knew the moment he moved out we were never going to see that money. And we didn't. But frankly, essentially paying 300$ for him to move out was well worth it in our eyes. We no longer had to deal with his stench, his mess, his terrible dog, his creepy comments, I could have friends over again (he had made all my friends uncomfortable - from getting caught jerking off in the bathroom with all the lights off/door unlocked, to suggesting lying about being raped to call out from work), I could stay at my own fucking house again (at this point I was sleeping at my now boyfriends house or finding friends to stay with).

Now, should we have gone after him for that money? Probably. We certainly had plenty of evidence for what he owed and his promises to pay us. But frankly, it was just such a fucking relief to not have him in our lives any longer. Feeling safe and comfortable in my own home was well worth that 300$ and never having to see him again.

You could absolutely nail your roommate to the wall with your evidence and eventually get that money. Or, you could just chalk it up to a lesson learned and never have to deal with her ever again and move forward with your life.

/r/badroommates Thread