May 16, 2026 at 7:15 pm

She Moved Out Early but Continued Paying Rent, yet Her Ex-Roommate Still Expected Her to Cover Utilities Too

by Liberty Canlas

Man and woman discussing money while holding dollar bills and a receipt

Pexels

Some people expect too much from others.

In this story, one man complains about his former roommate, who recently moved out before their lease was up. She continued to pay her half of the rent as agreed, but he wanted more money from her.

They disagree about what’s actually fair, so he’s wondering if he really is expecting too much.

Read the full story below.

AITA for expecting my ex-roommate to continue to pay for utilities?

My former roommate (36F) and I (29M) moved into a house together on a two-year lease.

We split the costs of everything that we used jointly, such as groceries, some furniture, etc., and while planning to move in together, we had already parsed out who gets what in terms of those jointly owned things.

Anyway, we agreed that no matter what, if one of us moved out before the lease was up, that person would continue to pay their half of the rent.

This agreement came about because I have a boyfriend, and at that time, we were getting pretty serious. He lives out of state, so moving in together at that time wasn’t possible due to our finances.

His roommate got engaged.

Anyway, about eight months ago, my roommate met someone. He proposed after about a month, and they’re getting married at the end of May, which is fine because the lease is up in June.

However, about two weeks ago, she came home and told me that she had taken the day off to go house hunting, found one they liked, and that she was moving out at the end of the week.

She reassured me that she would continue paying rent, so I wasn’t worried about it.

But I noticed that she was putting less money into the account we use to pay rent.

She explained her reasoning.

When I asked, she told me it was because she had only agreed to paying rent and that she didn’t feel like she should pay utilities because she wasn’t using the water, gas, or electricity.

While I see the point of what she’s saying, I feel like she should continue paying utilities too because we moved in with the understanding that we would be there through the entirety of our lease and would pay “our share” if one of us decided to leave earlier than this June.

Am I the jerk for thinking like that?

She agreed to pay rent and nothing more.

Other people in the comments section on Reddit are piping up.

A valid point.

Screenshot 2026 05 07 at 10.10.10 PM She Moved Out Early but Continued Paying Rent, yet Her Ex Roommate Still Expected Her to Cover Utilities Too

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a tenant who called the landlord after they hadn’t seen or heard their neighbor in days.

This makes sense.

Screenshot 2026 05 07 at 10.11.07 PM She Moved Out Early but Continued Paying Rent, yet Her Ex Roommate Still Expected Her to Cover Utilities Too

Here’s an accurate observation from this user.

Screenshot 2026 05 07 at 10.11.41 PM She Moved Out Early but Continued Paying Rent, yet Her Ex Roommate Still Expected Her to Cover Utilities Too

Plain and simple.

Screenshot 2026 05 07 at 10.12.00 PM She Moved Out Early but Continued Paying Rent, yet Her Ex Roommate Still Expected Her to Cover Utilities Too

And people are taking the ex-roommate’s side.

Screenshot 2026 05 07 at 10.12.56 PM She Moved Out Early but Continued Paying Rent, yet Her Ex Roommate Still Expected Her to Cover Utilities Too

No usage, no share. Fair is fair.