Roommates demand former roommate keep her name on the energy bill after she moves out of the apartment: 'Be adults and take care of it yourself.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
May 12, 2026 12:30 PM EDT

What happens if they stop paying their portions of the energy bill? 

You have to put a lot of faith and trust in your roommates. You must trust that they aren't sticking your toothbrush in the toilet every morning after you leave for work. You have to trust that they won't eat all of your groceries and pretend that they don't know anything about it when you confront them. Most importantly, you need to trust that they will pay their rent and bills in full and on time. 

In past roommate situations, we've all been responsible for paying our own portion of the rent on a rent portal, so the landlord can see exactly who has paid and how much they've paid. My current landlord wants us to Zelle him the rent in a lump sum, which has worked thus far, but could go horribly wrong if one roommate were to stop paying rent. The roommate who sends the money might be forced to use their own funds to make up the difference because they don't want their housing situation affected by one bad apple. That's the problem with having a ton of roommates: you're relying on way more people to be responsible than you would be if you only had one roommate or were living by yourself. But even having one bad roommate can make your life a living nightmare. Imagine what kind of financial pickle you'd be in if your roommate stopped paying rent and utilities for six months? You'd either have to jeopardize your living situation by not paying the rent and bills in full on your own dime, or destabilize your personal finances by draining your emergency fund and even going into debt for a roommate, of all people. 

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  • The roommates in this story want their former roommate to keep her name on their bills after she moves out. Luckily, she's smart enough to know what a terrible idea that is. 

  • Women using their own smartphones and ignoring each other during sleepover party at home
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Two roommates text their former roommate to ask her to keep her name on the bills after she's already moved out. 

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Am I overreacting? My roommates want me to keep the energy bill in my name after I've moved out.

    But you should call either this month or next month to transfer the account names. I shouldnt have to pay june and july since I wont be here. Transfer it now and not later. If its done last minute, that'll be a bigger issue. Thats what im trying to avoid You won't be paying for any bills when you're not living here, what i was saying earlier is that if you keep the account in your name will split the bill two ways. i and i understand that you don't want to have that under name but transferring t
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  • and is not required. if this does not work for you, the only two options we have are transferring the account but you pay the fee or the account is cancelled and we all receive fees on our resident account on top of the electricity used. this is purely a financial matter at this point i am really not trying to be r de or difficult Im not paying any money. The transferring person will have to pay bevause theyre taking over the account. I already payed my dues when I transferred the account from m
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  • happen anyway. If im out of here and the stuff is still not transfered, I am not having it be my problem to continue it for a place and people I want to leave behind. Ill close it and itll be on you two to figure it out afterwards. Of course, I dont want to do that, hence me trying to get this transferring thing going so its taken care of sooner rather than later. It does not make any sense for ME to keep an account going for a place im not living in or for roommates im not living with. Be adult
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  • so as i have already i'm not transferring the account it is not required and because im not the one moving i feel that it is not my responsibility to deal with that. You can cancel the account and everyone will receive a vcr fee of $50 and the electricity used during that time. again, if it hasn't been made clear you aren't paying anything. and i will pay the bills. keeping the account in your name saves all of us money. I would keep it in my name for people I respect. If we were friends, yeah s
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  • respect. If we were friends, yeah sure. But we're not. Im thrilled to not be living with you guys any more, you think id be okay with actually keeping an account in my name for an apartment and people I strongly dislike? Thats absurd and laughable. Grow up. it is so unnecessary to speak to us that way. we do not have to be friends or like each other. i don't like you either but i still pay the bills on time. like i said this is a financial matter not a personal one. the only immature one in this
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  • you refuse them because you don't like me.. If we aren't going to come to an agreement on this let's just cancel the account. Ive been trying this whole time to avoid canceling anything because there is that $50 fee and I dont want to put myself or anyone, especially who ive had no problems with, having to pay something because we cant come to an agreement. You two are making it way harder because you don't understand how the entire world works and youre making it my problem. If youre buying som
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  • paying anything? No. That makes zero sense. Idk what tf you guys are on thinking I have to be responsible for a fee ive already payed AND will not have responsibility over. to That fee youre so scared of paying, isnt going to come from me at all because, like an adult, I called clarify what its for. They said its a security deposit that is proof the account holder has the money to pay for continuing bills. Using MY money to pay for proof for YOUR credit makes absolutely no sense. And by your log
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  • so this would be so much simpler if we talked about it in person. i do know how the world works especially in this regard because i work at the front office of this apartment complex and have to deal with issues like these every day. what is the point of insulting us when trying to figure out serious issues. especially when you're just wrong. we are aware of who charged the fee and the fee is called but it is money nonetheless that we don't have to just open a brand new account because our roomm
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  • just wrong. we are aware of who charged the fee and the fee is called but it is money nonetheless that we don't have to just open a brand new account because our roommates are moving out. you have your reason for moving out and that's fine but why is it now my responsibility to pay that deposit? and is you were to stay for you entire lease contract you would've had to deal with closing the account once moving out. stop insulting us when we're trying to come up with solutions to this issue. "like
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  • I (25F) have been living in h I (student apartments) with these two girls (both below 20) for almost a year. They've been dirty, disrespectful, loud at night, and ignorant to ever request ive given to be respectful and nothing has changed. My lease ends in
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  • july and I wont physically be living there for the remaining months until I can move into my new apartment. The lease stays in my name and ill continue to pay it until my lease ends.
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  • Problem time: Theyre claiming i should keep the account in my name even after ive moved out to a new apartment so they dont have to pay the security deposit. Transferring account holder names comes with a deposit of about $230 and its proof the new holder has money to
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  • uphold the next continuing bills. I already payed the deposit when I took over the account from my last roommate who moved out. What these girls are claiming is that for them to avoid paying anything, I should just keep the account in my name for... the rest of my life? And
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  • if I miss any days paying THEIR bills, its going to reflect negativily on me. Their other option is having ME pay the deposit (proof of THIER credit) because im the one moving out. Which is not how that works anyway, because to transfer it, they have to call and put in their
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  • information. All of us are refusing to pay. The last option is having me cancel it and we all get a $50 charge and they open a new account. Which i want to avoid because 1) i dont think i should be paying anything and 2) i dont want to put the other girl who hasnt been a
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  • problem through having to pay for something she wasnt involved in. It shows my frustration through the texts, I know I may be in the wrong. for that. But for this situation alone, am I overreacting?
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  • Edit for more info: if i cancel, we all are given fees of $50. I want to avoid thst because I dont want to make it my other roommates problem (the other girl ive been good with.) Also to add, $50 is a lot to me since I budget and rarely have enough to pay random fees. It might not
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  • sound like a lot to some people, but its rare for me to just having extra money to spend on fees I could avoid. Final edit: glad I didnt cancel the account like I was told to do because the new apartment im moving to uses the same company. So if I
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  • had canceled it I would have been affected negativily anyway which I am glad I didnt. When I move, the account moves with me and they'll have to open their own account and pay the deposit anyway. Thanks for all the advice and comments though.
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  • Info: I did say previously "My lease ends in july but me, along with the only other roommate ive liked, will not be paying the months of june and july since we wont be there. Im not staying in the apartment if I dont have to, especially since its summer break." This was very poor
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  • wording on my part. What i meant was, previously (before the post and texting), me and another girl would not pay the energy bill because we wouldnt physically be there. This has since changed, and i, along with her, will continue paying regardless. But I am not
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  • breaking my lease nor leaving the others to pay the rent. I will still pay the rent and energy until my lease ends in july, I just physically wont be there and will be with my parents until I can officially move out. Thank you for all the comments bringing this up, and I
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  • apologize for wording it so badly at first.
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text message bills moving adults roommates money apartment energy
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