Sorry to say this, but: Move out. Really. Nothing is worth this.

Sarah, your landlord might not let you out of your lease, but that doesn't mean you can't break it. Read your lease and see what the fee is for ending your agreement early. If both you and your roommate want out, then it might be worth it to just split the fee cost.
Also, read up on the Tenant Laws in your state.

Step 1: Break lease

Step 2: Studio apartment

Your landlord won't consider a switch even if you find a replacement? Well then, it sounds like you have to work with it or cash out of it.

What means the most to your housemate? What means the most to you? Perhaps you can give them a little more of what they most want and vice versa?

If that is impossible, I would make an oasis out of my room and make sure that I have something absolutely lined up the minute the lease expires.

If you don't have the money/resources to break the lease try talking to your landlord again, ask him if you lined up another person willing to lease the apartment if he would consider you both out of the lease or agree to lesser penalties. If he is a reasonable person he may just go for it. He probably just wants to keep his units filled and will be happy to have someone replacing (not subletting) the lease right away without any effort on his part.

If both of you are mutually convinced that you just can't live together, can one of you find a friend who is willing to take over half the lease and the other moves out? That's not the same as subletting and if you find someone with a decent credit rating and pay for the credit check on that person, the landlord may not object.

Obviously this requires that the relationship not have degraded to the point of incivility so that both of you can suck it up and figure out who stays, and who goes. But since you seem to have the civility to both agree to move out and find a subletter, you could probably manage this. It's at least worth asking the landlord about.

Landlords aren't therapists, matchmakers or Mommies - They run a business renting apartments. You willingly signed a one-year legal agreement with your roommate to finish out the year or pay a penalty, however your lease - like most leases - clearly doesn't have an "I don't like her" clause.

You have three simple choices: You can make nice with the roommate and bear it for another 7 months, you can pay rent for the next 7 months and go live somewhere else, or you can pay the monetary penalty for early lease termination and move out with the possibility of incurring a black mark on your credit report for not completing a 12 month lease.

Only you can decide which is more important to you: Money in the bank or piece of mind.

Play hardball. Tell him that if he doesn't let you sublet, you will stop paying rent and then he'll have to evict you.

If the problem is about food theft - booby trap the food. Worked for me!

Walk away and forfeit your security deposit. Get a studio apartment...ALONE!

I tend to agree with mjr.

Another option is to talk with him and ask, "I am moving out, what options do we have?"

Landlords have flexibility. They make the rules (and if he didn't, ask to talk with the owner) and they can make exceptions.

Before you do this, have another place lined up.

is it currently a renter's market by you? in many places, even big cities, landlords are desperate. and despite what bepsf writes, they are also human and willing to compromise if you make it easy for them by finding a replacement. don't let bepsf shame you into being miserable.

Look up the landlord tenant laws in your area. Specifically note what the laws say regarding "assigning" versus "subletting".

In most areas, "subletting" means to turn over the unit to another occupant for a set time after which the original occupant returns.

"Assigning" on the other hand means to turn over the unit to another occupant without the intent for the original tenant to return.

Most jurisdictions and leases do not preclude the activity of assigning the lease to another party, which would allow you and/or your roommate to move out.

Your home should be your haven. I repeat: your home should be your haven! In the long run, security deposits are likely worth less than your mental/emotional security. Get the heck out of there. I've had to do this before; just find a replacement renter, and talk to a lawyer. They can likely easily draw up the paperwork (i.e. write a letter), and close the chapter. You probably won't even have to lose your security deposit if you get the replacement renter to pay it to you. Don't let the landlord bully you... all he cares about is paid rent.

For the love of Pete, don't threaten your landlord!

While 7 more months with this girl might suck, SEVEN YEARS of having an eviction on your credit record will suck a whole lot more.

If you two an still talk, even a little bit, you might consider going to a mediator, or having one come to you. Even if you can't broach the subject to your roomie, the mediator might be able to help you.

Also, Kodak has a good point. Turning over the lease to someone else might be fine, since you won't be wanting to return anyway.

I would suggest the following:

(1) Go to your local housing board. I'm from the Bay Area so we're lucky to have a great housing board and number to call to gain advice. If something like that isn't available, perhaps a local tennants organization like someone mentioned above.

(2) Read your lease very thoroughly. Your lease is essentially the agreement between you and the landlord and if it doesn't explicitly indicate that no sub-tennants, subletters or extended house guests are allowed you may be golden.

(3) Definitely do what you will, it's your life, but as someone said above I wouldn't go with the "not pay my rent until I get my way" threat, it'll end up screwing you more in the end and it's bad karma.

The Chicago Landlord and Tenant Ordinance requires that landlords allow reasonable subleases without the levying of additional fees. He may, however, hold onto your security deposit until the sublease ends. See the Metropolitan Tenants Organization for the complete ordinance and details (search for "subleases" for the exact wording): http://www.tenants-rights.org/. I'm not sure where you're located, but you should check for similar local ordinances.

bepsf is absolutely correct. Tactful? No. Truthful? You betcha.

I figure anyone young and broke enough to actually resort to living with a roommate should also be flexible enough to realize they survived the first 5 months, and they'll survive the next 7.

Either suck it up, or pay to get out of your responsibility. Those are basically your choices. This isn't the landlord/manager's issue, it's yours.

Definitely don't trust your landlord's advice about this. Check your local tenants' rights (it may necessitate a physical trip to city offices-- Pittsburgh's code, for example, is notoriously hard to find online) and find out your rights.

Then, send your landlord a certified letter that includes the pertinent legal information. He doesn't sound pleasant, so I recommend skipping further chats and moving on to actual business. Send a letter instead.

Also, if you find you don't have legal recourse on this matter, look around for code violations. There are usually some. Put anything you can possibly find into your letter, even if it's something like, "I don't have an electric outlet every 10'" or whatever. If the landlord gets a certified letter with this, he's likely to just want to minimize his work and let you leave peacefully.

Good luck!

Read your lease carefully and look up the laws in your area to see what your options may be. Then have a calm discussion with your landlord. If they still refuse to let you out?

Well, I was in the same situation once. I couldn't afford to break my lease and didn't have the time to find a new place anyway. If I managed to live with loathsome roommates for over a year, I think you can manage 7 months. Just hang out with friends as much as possible, make your room your sanctuary, and silently bear the assiness rather than confronting them and making things even worse.

Don't forget - when you apply for a new apartment, the management will probably check back with this landlord to find out what kind of tenant you are. So, I wouldn't go with this "you will have to evict me then!" attitude, for sure.

Don't threaten your landlord. BUT, just as he is asserting his rights, you can assert yours. Read your lease again and see what HIS obligations are. I bet he has failed to do SOMEthing. If so, he has breached the lease, and you can probably get out of it. And, as someone suggested above, read the local code. If the space isn't up to code, you can probably get out there. Find a lawyer friend or free tenants' advice hotline before doing this though.

Not to be a buzz kill but--

Reminder, if you break your lease it can have serious repercussions on your credit rating.

If you move out when your roommate finds another tenant, your name will still be on the lease and you are still liable for your share of the rent if they don't pay it or up and leave.

Just food for thought. If you have separate rooms you might simply want to think/pretend you're in a college dorm and just hang in there. While it seems like a horrible long time for the year to be over, it will be over in a few months and then you can move on with your life slightly older and a bit more cautious?

I survived a three quarter hour roommate (one class per quarter and he eventually flunked out)and you can survive your roommate. Live with her for another seven months.

1. Get a boyfriend or girlfriend who doesn't mind sleepovers

2. Stay out until bedtime. You should be able to go from work or school to a library, museum, health club, or cafe without carrying around too much stuff.

3. Develop a weird diet regimen that involves kitchen composting

4. Stare and whisper latin when she sleeps

5. Purchase a copy of SWF and play it over and over and over

6. Ask if she'd like to join your church

7. Talk with her mother and bond, bond, bond, baby bond

8. Leave AA/NA literature laying about

9. Sleep with her boyfriend or girlfriend

10. magnets under her laptop

Sarah,
If you care about your credit and you really cannot make any headway with your landlord, I suggest you just resign yourself to surviving the next 7 months. No one believes home is more important than me, but really, your credit will impact where and with whom you can live for much, much longer if you face eviction or a lawsuit. Think of it this way--let's say your next prospective roomie is your platonic soulmate. If you don't bring a decent credit score to the table, chances are that you won't be living with him or her. Spend as little time as you can at home and rejoice in the recognition that you will not have to remain there for long. Try to stop telling yourself that the situation is 'untenable'; it won't help your frame of mind. Instead, tell yourself it is something that you have to get through and you will get through. If your roommate does something threatening or illegal, call 911. If they do something that constitutes an environmental complaint, like loud music call the police precinct number for non-emergencies. You don't have to leave your name. If they are damaging the property, report it to the landlord. If they are just annoying you, ignore them and refuse to be provoked.
You *can* do it.

You and your roommate have two things in common: you hate each other and you hate your landlord. Rather than further alienating your roommate, why not bond over getting back at your landlord?

- Send large take-out orders to his home at all hours of the night.

- Anonymously tip off the cops that he has a meth lab in his basement.

- If he's married or involved in a long-term relationship, send him bouquets of flowers or intimate gifts with suggestive notes attached.

Projecting your hatred for each other onto your landlord can be a real bonding experience!

Although many of these comments are funny, they're not right. Most major cities forbid landlords from refusing to accept a sublessor, provided that person is qualified.

Talk to your local rentalsman or tenants rights association. There's usually something you can do. And don't play stupid games with your roomie or your landlord: it won't help your relations with either.

I've been in a similar situation. Assuming that your landlord won't budge (as others have said: check your rights, use all of the angles!), in my case we put together a living schedule (via e-mail). A schedule where one person was able to have run of the house basically (aka live alone), and the other either stayed out or stayed in their respective bedroom. The schedule could run for a week or a few days, whatever is comfortable. On my banished days, I lived like a ghost in the apartment. I worked many late nights at the office. Found excuses to stay out late with friends or exploring a new bar. My social life thrived, and my work was always complete and on time. If I was staying in my room I read books, joined Netflix, had take-out picnics. During the times I had the run of the apartment, I could have guests over without worry. I also made a rule with myself: Accept the situation. Don't talk about it with your friend incessantly, or ruminate on how unfair it all is. Get through those months, then move on. The last month of a tenancy is looking for another place anyway.

living in an airport is cheap, go there for some quiet rest until this is water under the bridge.

This time last year when I started my degree I signed up to live with four other people in a rented house. One of them had an arrogant, possessive, paranoid boyfriend who moved himself in between September and Christmas, making communal living spaces little more than gauntlets, and who was finally ejected by force by our letting agent. One house mate played something that I can barely describe as "music" at the loudest possible volume for the entirety of stay, purchasing bass speakers and a sub-woofer at Christmas. I'm also convinced she was a compulsive liar. Another was so unfamiliar with the concept of cleanliness that I am genuinely surprised that she never became violently ill. The remaining girl was brilliant, until she retired her tee-total policy - which it also turns out was her respect policy for other people's sleeping schedules and work ethic. She also had a wildly disproportionate perception of what constituted "fire", "threats" and "stalking".

Believe me, it could be far worse.

All the landlord can do is charge you a fee for breaking the lease. Yes, it won't look good on your credit, but if it's unbearable it's unbearable. You might get around the fee and he may charge the roommate your fee if you can move without him knowing where you went - would be a little sweet revenge.

Next time, only roommate if it's your total best friend or the guy you are marrying - LOL - and even think, give it lots and lots of thought. Stick to studio apartments or small one bedrooms if you don't have tons of cash.

harriet welch: those Chicago ordinances you are speaking of do not apply to landlord-occupied buildings of 6 units or less.

Life's too short but, if you don't want to deal with the potential economic hit (and I understand in this economy!), come up with different ways to resolve what you don't like about each other. Some ideas... if they're stealing your food, add a mini-fridge to your bedroom closet to keep your most precious expensive stuff separate. If it's noise, add a white sound machine to your room to mask some of their noise level (it doesn't mask it all but takes the edge off). If it's bathroom mess, bring your stuff in on a tray and take it out when you leave the bathroom (leaving their mess as-is if possible). If it's just their hostile presence, imagine they're a ghost in The Sixth Sense and they can't hurt you? Best wishes... as often as I'm tempted to get a roommate, so I can just plain 'save more money for my future', I remember situations like yours (because I had them too!).

I lived with someone I couldn't stand back when I was in college. I, too, was bound by a lease and I didn't have the money or the resources to walk away from my security deposit (I also worked with and had classes with this person). So, I made my room my home. I kept my desk, bed, and TV in there, and I got a mini fridge so I barely had to leave the room other than to use the restroom. I cooked when my roommate wasn't around. Then I'd go back to my room or I'd go somewhere else. My boyfriend lived a few blocks away, so I spent many evenings enjoying his cable television until I was tired and then I went home and straight to bed. I also used the library and nearby coffee shop often.

It sucked that I was paying rent for an entire apartment but didn't feel like I belonged there or was allowed to use the whole space. But, for the sake of my sanity, I made it work. Then I moved out at the end of the lease and got my own studio space. What a dream come true that was!

It was a rough few months feeling like I was walking on eggshells around someone I didn't get along with, but I didn't really have an economically-friendly choice. I bit the bullet and learned a lot of patience in the process (patience with other people and patience to look for the right apartment with the right roommate... in this case, my fiancé).

Rucy, who posted above me, had a lot of good points and I second them.

In Chicago you cannot legally sign away your right to sublet, despite it's being written into the lease (don't know how it applies to smaller, owner-occupied buildings) - I assume Sarah is in Chicago. In addition, breaking the lease, being evicted or pursuing legal action against the landlord (of any sort, i.e. they sue you) can appear in reports which many bigger landlords/management companies now use to vet and screen renters, it can compromise your ability to get a new place in another city - NYC especially comes to mind.

Some of course, screen more thoroughly. My first landlord (a cop) in a largish building pretty much rented to me on sight, while my second, in a two-flat, owner-occupied, checked up on my references quite thoroughly, in addition to the credit reports, etc.

if there is absolutely no way you can get out I would suggest one thing. Change the lock on your bedroom door.

For less than $20 you can buy a doorknob with a lock and swap it out on your bedroom door. Then at least you can retreat to your room knowing that your roommate has no access.

I live with two roommates and luckily I get along with them very well, we all have locks on our doors though and I've found this works perfectly.

goodluck

If it is going to cost you more to break your lease than to get your own place, I would stay and ignore the heck out of this person (but then again, I am the person who ignored my live in boyfriend for two months before leaving after I saved my money while he was at work one day. Do you share the bathroom? If so, I would cash out, too much opportunity for running into each other.

Back in college, I was in a similar situation, but at the time I was so broke that moving out just wasn't an option. Since I never felt comfortable spending time in the house's shared spaces, I -- like many commenters have suggested -- treated my room like it was a studio apartment. Apart from brief forays into the kitchen and bathroom, I spent all my at-home time in my room (which was, fortunately, pretty awesome.)

Sure, it sucked living with people I didn't trust or like, but there were some unexpected benefits, too. I spent lots of time at the library, and ended up earning the highest grades of my college career during that period. I ate sparsely to minimize potential kitchen run-ins and went to the gym a lot, which led to losing a fair amount of poundage without even trying. When I did finally get my own place, it was the sweetest, most magnificant living situation ever. And because my housemates were nightmare tenants, that wonderful day came sooner than expected: After multiple complaints (from me, the neighbors, and the police), the landlord decided to start over with new tenants and offered me the chance to get out of my lease penalty-free.

There's a huge difference between being irritated by your roommate, and plain old disliking each other. This sounds like a very not-good situation. If you can break the lease, I'd really consider it. Try to find someone to take your place; your landlord will be more likely to let you break it if you've got a suitable replacement.

I totally feel this.

I was paired up with someone through craigslist via the landlady, and the roommate turned out to be a violent, abusive drunk who moonlighted as an escort, smoked more pot than Dave Chappelle and destroyed furniture, a laptop and my peace of mind.

The landlady did NOTHING to aid the situation and actually continues to allow her to stay, in spite of the fact that she's done some pretty unspeakable things.

You should be able to find something cheap and temporary, like I'm doing - and maybe restore your sanity!

it kills me not to know how it all ended!!!

Yeah maike, me too!