Roommate Default and Theft?

A few months ago I left town due to health issues. In that time period my roommate moved someone in, stole numerous possessions from me, and stopped paying rent. She lied and threw away all legal notices. the renting office refunded my payments and refused any amount but the full balance. (We are jointly responsible) By the time I got back into town to sort this all out, the judgement was already filed on us. The apartment is now 11,000 behind. I have my half (5500) and I have no way of coming up with the rest on such short notice. I am in the lease with my roommate and her mother. My question is, since my credit is already screwed, will my mother (who did not sign) be able to rent me an apartment (her name, but I will also be living there). I will be "blacklisted" for this.

Also, is there anything I can do legally against my roommate for keeping the notices from me?

I did pay my Rent. I have lived in this apartment community for over 2 years, and they have ALWAYS taken our individual payments. They REFUNDED mine because she was so far behind, and will now accept only the full amount. Also, I have been working CLOSELY with the office this entire time, they were fully aware I was out of town, and they were getting zero response from my roommate and her mother. In addition, ALL of my belongings were there, I didn't move out and stop paying, I was out of town. In addition, the legal notices were sent to the apartment via the mail from a lawyer, and the office was not able to provide me with copies because they themselves haven't seen the legal papers. Your answer was very rude.

guess you learned something about leases, huh? the landlord cant make 1/2 mortgage payments, and thats why leases are drawn, to lock you in...
you should have taken care of your business, w/ him before leaving, and now hes included the full balance of the lease, w/ penalties....expensive lesson huh? no, you cant prove he with held anything, you werent around...........

sue that f u c k e r

You made a stupid decision.

You had to have been gone for MONTHS without forwarding your mail, to rack up $11,000 behind...you obviously weren't paying your half or else it wouldn't have fallen behind.

You left your roommate in one heck of situation, you abandoned your belongings, you stopped paying rent and utilities, and then you just show back up screaming "my rights have been violated"?

As soon as you realized it was going to be more than 30-days, you should have sent someone to clear out your things, paid your HALF of rent and utilities until your roommate found someone else, and worked out something with the landlord.

It was extremely irresponsible of you.

The renting office does not have to accept partial payments or "your half". This is a common practice in rental. It's up to you to and your roommate to get the rental office ONE check.

Yes, you will be able to live with your mother as an occupant, b/c if you are not on the lease, therefore the landlord has no reason to pull your credit.

No, you can't do anything to you roommate because it was your responsibility to inform the landlord of where you were staying or forward your mail.

...and think about it...WAS IT REALLY necessary for you to receive a legal notice? Or did you think the landlord was going to let you store your stuff for months for free since you weren't paying anything?