The Roomate Saga Part 4 (The End)

For the rest of the story: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

Quick recap: Sleazy Chick, my ex-roommate, left town without moving out her belongings or paying for her damages. The landlord charged us $800 for repairs, cleaning, and dumping Sleazy Chick's junk.

Good Roomie called Sleazy Chick's parents several times, after finding their phone number in the yellow pages. No one picked up the phone, but Good Roomie didn't leave a message, afraid Sleazy Chick would erase it.

After several calls, Sleazy Chick's mom, Mrs. Chick, used caller ID to call Roomie back.

"Who is this? Why do you keep calling the house?" she said, angrily.

Roomie explained who she was, what situation we were in, and that her daughter owed us money. Like her daughter, Mrs. Chick tried to weasel out of paying.

Mrs. Chick's first argument: "Well, everyone used the furniture, so everyone's responsible for it."

Excuse me? We all brought items that we shared, and we moved all our own items out of the apartment. If we dared to touch your daughter's things, she would probably be suing us.

Mrs. Chick's second argument: "You can't blame my daughter for everything. Those French girls who subletted during the summer probably left a mess."

What? They brought furniture and potted plants in their luggage for a 6-week stay? They had barely enough room for all their clothes and toiletries in their suitcases. I took them shopping right after they landed. Furthermore, they were very neat, and cleaned the house without being asked, even though they were in a hurry to catch their departing flight.

Mrs. Chick's third argument: "Some of the stuff belongs to my daughter's old roommate Mandy."

So what? Mandy lived there before us. Your daughter had a full year to get Mandy to move her stuff or throw it out. When we moved in your daughter gave us the impression everything belonged to her.

I wrote Mrs. Chick a calm, polite letter explaining what her daughter did, why she can't blame anyone else, what the charges were, and how much she owed the landlord and each roommate.

Instead of trusting her to mail 4 separate checks (for me, Good Roomie, Good Roomie #2 and the landlord), I told her to send one to us, which we would split up, to make it more convenient for "her."

I also added, since we owed the landlord money, it was in the best interest of her daughter's credit report to pay us soon.

To my surprise, Mrs. Chick sent us the money. Promptly. And the check didn't bounce.

Throughout all this, Sleazy Chick stayed silent. I'm glad all this is over, but the whole situation left me very disappointed, and surprised at how selfish someone can be.

I can understand if you're spoiled, and you can afford to buy a new TV, living room set, kitchenware, etc. every time you move. What I don't understand is why it takes too much effort to put an ad on Craigslist saying, "Hey broke students, poor people and recyclers: come get some free stuff."

At the very least, how hard is it to say to your roommates, "I don't want ____, so throw it out so you won't get charged" ?