<prompt> Human: Im a 26 year old graduate student who makes enough money to get byenough to pay bills and a little bit extra. I got a new roommate 3 months ago and after the lease was signed I found out through the grapevine that he has a history of just up and moving out on his roommates. Specifically, I was told that out of the last 4 roommates he has moved out on 3. I dont expect that Im so special that Ill be apart of the coveted 20. My question is what financiallegal trouble could this cause me? I cant pay both of our rent and in the case that he did move out it would be difficult to find a roommate in the middle of the semester. Could I sue for the rest of the leases rentbills? Would it even be worth it? Is it even my problem being that both of us signed the lease; would I just let the landlord take care of him?The lease that we signed wasnt even a lease. It was an application to rent. I tried explaining this to the secretary at the office owned by the people we rent from but she insisted that the owner said it was the lease. This isnt my fist rodeo, it was clearly an application. Is this applicationlease thing legally binding? Is it possible that if my roommate were to walk out on the lease I could walk out as well and not have to pay the rest of the lease because of a technicality?Is there anything I can do to prepare myself financiallylegally from him possibly walking out on the lease so that he will have to pay his half?Im curious because the last thing I need in the middle of a semester is to be concerned with this. I want to get an idea of a plan of action in case he does.Im new to reddit so I hope this is the right sub and correct formatting.  <response>: The lease that we signed wasnt even a lease. It was an application to rent.Did it list the monthly amount due, rules of residency, include the phrase jointly and severally liable, have a date range of your tenancy, and did you both date and sign it? If so, thats a written lease. You dont go by what the top heading says.If your roommate bails on you, youll be on the hook for the rent. Two things you can do to prepare: create a roommate needed asap ad right now and keep it ready to post if your roommate bails. Identify the amount youd need for a week long stay, a month long stay, andor a stay until the completion of your lease.If he bails, the landlord can go to you for 100 of the rent. Your recourse is that you can in turn sue your roommate for his share of the rent. Its probably going to be a small claims court amount. So prepare for a small claims case right now. Document what you can. Educate yourself about the process, including howwhere to file a claim.You should not consider your own research sufficient to bring you up to speed on the legal issue, though. Locate a local nonprofit tenants right organization, contact them and make use of their resources. You might also have access to a similar resource through your school.Also not to be a dick, but try and drop the not my first rodeo attitude to this. There are a few issues here that youre clearly dealing with for the first time --what a lease actually is, how to resolve an anticipated dispute, why you should do some background work before you sign a year long legal agreement with someone, why disputing the finer points of contract law with a secretary will get you nowhere, etc.An overly generous estimation of ones own aptitude for resolving a legal dispute is a dangerous thing, because it screws a lot of people out of a lot of time and money. If you want accurate advice on how to proceed, refer to legal professionals. Youre not one. Dont pretend that youre just as qualified to handle things on your own. 