Should I be required to pay 1/2 the utilities when my roommate's boyfriend and dog have moved in to a small 2 bed/1 bath house?

Seems to me a three-way split would be much more fair.

If this is a rented property, your lease probably doesn’t allow for an extra person living there.
Check your lease. Most places will only allow for guests for a few days. After a certain point, that means you’re breaking the lease and you can get in big trouble for this. Impress that idea on your roommate.

This isn’t your mom by any chance?

There was no lease. It is a mutual friend’s house that we were both renting from so guidelines were very loose as to a lease agreement.
She just isn’t getting why she (they) should pay ⅔ and is demanding that I pay half the utilities.

Yeah she needs to understand that he’s not sharing her space, he’s sharing your space just by being there. He eats, showers, uses your facilities, sucks your power out of the walls…
If he’s going to live there, he needs to pay up.

If she refuses to be reasonable, it might be a sign that it’s time to move on. Don’t rule out that possibility.If it sucks there, you don’t have to stay. Sounds like it kinda sucks there.

Yep, I think she needs to decide between ⅔ and 3/3. If I were you I would tell her she bends or you go.

You basically have two choices. Pay your share of the half and consider it a lesson for the future to make arrangements like this in writing.

Or, if you decide not to go along with that, figure out your share and make out a check to her for that amount (NOT CASH)

Include a written explanation of why you feel this is fair and make her take it to small claims court. Document everything in writing.

I thought you already had moved out. The advantage is clearly yours.

I’ve done that and once a roommate relationship is at the point that you have to start itemizing everything, that situation is over because the trust is gone. Continuing to live in a house where you don’t trust the other person is a recipe for disaster.
The best bet is to take care of yourself before you even have to consider small claims court. That whole business is a mess and you don’t want any of it.

I have moved out. I have two problems: one aspect is that the actual paying of the bill. The other is, what sort of friend is she is if she just doesn’t ‘get it’?

She is neither a friend nor a reasonable person. I’d get away from the situation. See ya….Gary/wtf

This happens so often that it should be addressed in the original roommate agreement like Bf’s may be present only when the so is present. Bf’s may only sleep over 5 nights/mo after which so will contribute $25/night extra toward bills. Evidently you moved out w/o settling on the bills so don’t try to go back and make an agreement after the fact, If you and roommate kept current with the bills then we are talking 17% of the last month’s expenses so what would that be $100—$150? Take it as a cheap lesson learned and be smarter the next time.

I had this exact problem a few times in my uni years…if your friend cant see things from your perspective move on…otherwise it will just cause trouble if you try to implement rules as it will be an “affecting the relationship issue” wich will just make you the bad guy…might sound drastic but money is always an issue that shouldn’t be treated lightly between friends so if you want to stay friends move out….also it might wake her up to teh fact her boyfriend is mooching if she suddenly has to foot the whole rent

if you’re out already then the issue is just the paying of the bill and the friendship. i think this will affect your frienship forever, and what kind of friend is she anyway, to let this happen? as for paying the bill, don’t pay it. if he lives there then it’s his problem. i hope the bill is not in your name. if it is in your name, you need to close the account which would end your responsibility for future bills. then you could work something out, with her or him. if it’s in your roomie’s name, then just pay what you feel you owe and call it a lesson learned.

Yes, it is a lost cause. Suck it up, pay the half, and never share living quarters with this particular friend ever again.

You can keep on being “friends” with her if you want, but I wouldn’t if I were you.

Oh, and make sure your name is off all utilities accounts and that the owner of the house knows in writing that you have moved out. That way your friend (or ex-friend) can’t try to claim you owe even more money.

Whose name are the utilities in? If they are in YOUR name, smile, pay half and call today to get them out of your name. Let her know so she can make arangements to get them in her or her boyfriends name.
If they are in her name already, pay the third. In my experience as an apartment manager it is more than most would do in the same circumstance.

3 way split or she can suck it. That’s my advice. Especially if the bills are in her name.

Well, I resolved it. After I felt like I had some reasonable discussions with her she was not bending on paying the bills in 3rds. I then told her that I would pay half of the bill at that time but was loaning her the money for the difference of her boyfriend’s third. If and when, over time, she realized what was fair and reasonable she could pay me the remainder but until then she owed me the money—and that it was clearly a loan. At this point, it was more about the principle than the money.
We work together (I know, lesson learned!) and when I arrived to work the next day the money was there for me. The friendship is damaged and clearly over but in retrospect, I should have discussed with her earlier instead of waiting until the day the bills were due. I still think she doesn’t get IT. As with any relationship, always wise to openly discuss these matters from the get go.