Man Refuses To Pay Utility Bills Because He Wasn't Part Of The Consumption For The Past Three Months, Roommate Calls Him An A-hole

He refuses to pay since he has lived with his girlfriend for the past three months.

May

• Published in Interesting
• August 29, 2023

Tons of benefits come with having a roommate. On top of splitting the rent and bills, you also have the opportunity to share household chores and responsibilities, making daily tasks more manageable and allowing for a more organized living space.

Additionally, having a roommate often means having someone to socialize with and potentially build a close friendship, creating a supportive and enjoyable atmosphere at home. Unfortunately, some roommates can be a nightmare, too.

The ones that don't clean up after themselves and don't contribute to payments correctly are among the worst ones. One Redditor is among the latter.

The guy asked for judgment from the peeps at the "Am I The A**hole?" (AITA) subreddit. He told the community that his girlfriend had a knee injury that needed surgery, so he has been taking care of her stuff at home.

He only stops by the duplex he rents with some roommates to get clothes and supplies. He told one of them that he wouldn't be paying for his share for the last three months he wasn't there since he isn't consuming water and electricity.

He'd still be paying for the rent, though. This angered the roommate.

After all, he's part of the lease. So he needs to pay his share.

He asked the community if he was the a-hole for refusing to pay for utilities for the past three months.

The OP's question to the community:

The OP explains why he doesn't want to pay for the utilities. He hasn't been living in the duplex for the past three months.

He informed his roommate that he wouldn't be paying his share of the utilities, explaining that he hasn't been using them for the past couple of months.

He further explains how the usage works.

Redditors believe that he should pay his share even if he hasn't been using the utilities. He is part of the lease, after all.

Even if he hasn't been consuming water and electricity, the bill wouldn't drastically drop without him.

It's unfair for the others to shoulder his share.

The best solution is to reduce his share. He needs to talk to his roommates about how much he'll be paying.

Since he's part of the lease he needs to pay for every utility until the time he leaves. He shouldn't back out just because it's convenient.

The OP needs to pay up. That's the only fair solution.

He can't just change the rules just because he's away for a couple of months.

Not paying up would be an unfair burden toward his roommates.

Every person who signed the lease has an obligation to contribute as long as they're renting the space.

Not paying the utilities is completely unfair to the roommates, especially since he signed and agreed to the lease. The best solution for the OP is to pay the rent and the utilities.

He needs to pay up until the time he moves in with his girlfriend. It's his responsibility as a tenant.

May