<prompt> Human: Im moving out of the house I lived in at university last year at the end of this month and today one of my roomates got an email from one of the past residents about our basement electricity bill. We had always paid our electricity bill on time and assumed the basement was included in it. According to the past resident, it is separate and he never took his name off it and never saw it because its technically a commercial building? He obviously wants us to reimburse him but my annoyance is the fact that there will be 12 months worth of interest on the bill that I wouldnt have encountered if he and removed his name from the bill. So Im wondering if we should just ignore this guy, tell him well only pay for the actual bill and not the late fees or if we have to pay him? In case it matters we live in the USA.  <response>: I would offer to pay for the electricity since you used it, but I would put the interest and any fees on him. If he isnt up for that he can sue you in small claims. Id make the offer in writing so if he does take you to court, you can show a judge you were trying to be reasonable. 