My roommate moved out. Can I make them keep paying rent?

If they are still on the lease, they remain legally responsible to the landlord for the whole rent, and you can recover from them what you paid to cover their share. Moving out does not end a lease obligation. The catch is that the landlord will pursue whoever is easiest to reach, usually the person still living there, so in practice you pay and then pursue your roommate.

What is a contribution claim?

When two people are jointly liable for the same debt and one pays more than their share, the one who overpaid can recover the excess from the other. That right of contribution is what lets you sue a roommate who left you covering their half. You are not enforcing the lease on the landlord's behalf; you are recovering money you paid that they owed.

Do I have to pay the rent first before I can sue them?

Generally yes, and it is also the smart play. Your claim is for money you actually paid on their behalf, so unpaid rent you never covered is usually not yet recoverable from them. Withholding rent to pressure a roommate just puts your own tenancy at risk while the landlord pursues you both.

What evidence do I need?

The signed lease showing both names, proof you paid the full rent (bank statements, cancelled checks, payment app records, landlord receipts), any written agreement between you about splitting rent, and messages where the roommate acknowledges owing money or promises to pay. That last item is worth a great deal, so keep the texts.

Can I just keep their security deposit?

Usually not on your own. The deposit belongs to the tenants collectively and is held by the landlord, who returns it at the end of the tenancy under state rules. You cannot unilaterally claim their portion mid-lease. What you can do is account for it when the deposit is finally returned, or raise it as an offset in your claim against them.

Can You Make a Roommate Who Moved Out Pay Their Share?

They took their things, stopped answering the group chat, and the first of the month arrived anyway. You covered the whole rent because the alternative was an eviction filing with your name on it. The question now is whether you can get their half back. Usually you can, but not through the landlord and not by withholding rent. It runs through a claim you bring yourself.

The clause that traps you also protects you

Nearly every multi-tenant lease makes the tenants jointly and severally liable, which means the landlord can demand the entire rent from any one of you rather than chasing each person for a fraction. Tenants usually meet this clause as bad news, and in the moment it is: you are the one still living there, so you are the one who gets the demand.

The half people miss is that the same principle gives you a claim in the other direction. Your roommate owed that money too. When you paid it for them, the law generally lets you recover the excess from them. For the full mechanics of the clause itself, see joint and several liability for roommates.

What a contribution claim is

When two people are liable for the same debt and one pays more than their share, the overpayer can recover the difference. That is a right of contribution, and it is the legal engine behind your case. Two things follow from it:

Your claim is against the roommate, not the landlord. The landlord is not obligated to split the bill or to pursue your roommate for you.
You recover what you actually paid. Rent that nobody paid is not money you can collect from them yet, because you have not covered it on their behalf.

Pay first, then pursue

This ordering feels unfair and is still correct. Withholding rent to force a roommate's hand does not hurt them, it exposes you: the landlord can serve a pay-or-quit notice, start an eviction, and report the debt, all against the person actually living in the unit. Keep the tenancy clean, document every payment, and take the fight to the person who owes you rather than to the person who can evict you.

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Build the file

The signed lease showing both names and the joint and several clause.
Proof you paid the full rent each month: bank statements, payment app history, or landlord receipts. This is the core of the case.
Any roommate agreement between you setting out how rent was split.
Messages where they acknowledge the debt or promise to pay. An admission in writing is worth more than any argument you can make.
A written demand stating the months covered, the amount of their share, and a deadline. Some people pay at this step, and if they do not, the demand becomes evidence you tried.

Small claims is built for this

Roommate contribution disputes are close to the ideal small claims case: modest amounts, a written contract, and documentary proof of payment. You do not need a lawyer, filing fees are low, and the process is designed for ordinary people. Check your state limit, file where the defendant lives or where the tenancy was, and bring organized copies of everything above. The main practical risk is not losing, it is winning against someone with no money to collect from, so weigh that before spending the filing fee.

Get them off the lease going forward

Recovering past months is only half the problem. Until the landlord releases them in writing, they stay liable, which sounds good until you realize the reverse is also true: you stay liable for a unit you may want to leave, and their name still sits on the lease. Ask the landlord for a written release plus a lease amendment making you the sole tenant, or add an approved replacement roommate. Moving out is not the same as being released. See roommate moves out mid-lease and how to document a lease change.

Next time, write it down

A one-page roommate agreement covering who pays what share, what happens if someone leaves early, and how much notice they must give does not bind the landlord, but it settles the question between you and turns a messy contribution claim into a simple breach of a written agreement. Ten minutes at move-in.

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