Can I Ditch My Roommate to Live With a Friend?

The Ethicist replies.

I'd been living in my apartment for a year when my current roommate moved in. We didn't know each other beforehand, but she has turned out to be a nice person whose lifestyle is very similar to mine. As roommates go, she's a good one, and I have no complaints about living with her. But I just found out that one of my best friends is moving to my city in a few months (around when my lease expires), and she and I would like to live together in this apartment. The problem is that I don't think my current roommate has any desire to leave.

In many ways, this apartment is mine. I was here first, the apartment is stocked and furnished with things I bought and my name is the only one on the lease. My roommate wanted to sign a lease, but because my landlord already knew me, he preferred to keep our current arrangement. We ended up just signing a sublease agreement between us. Of course, none of that is my roommate's fault, and after living in the space for a year, she must feel a certain claim to it. Is it wrong of me to tell her she needs to leave at the end of our lease? And if not, how do I broach that conversation?

Subscribe Today

We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times with this special offer.

ADVERTISEMENT

MORE FROM THE MAGAZINE

Article Image

Photo illustration by Najeebah Al-Ghadban

Screenland

How 'The Bear' Captures the Panic of Modern Work

You don't have to work in a kitchen to recognize the chaos and precarity the show depicts.

By Carina Chocano

Article Image

Cole Barash for The New York Times

Letter of Recommendation

I Collect Souvenir Spoons. I Can Explain.

Those airport gift-shop mementos are a link to the past — and to future trips my father and I might have shared.

By Hannah Selinger

Article Image

Chris Simpson for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Sophia Pappas.

A Creamy, Spicy Dip Unlike Any Other

The Houston chef Dawn Burrell brings her biography to everything she cooks, like her creamed collard greens spiked with chile sauce.

By Bryan Washington

Article Image

Photo illustration by Ina Jang

Diagnosis

Her Lungs Mysteriously Shut Down. How Could This Have Happened?

A high school athlete got desperately sick and needed life support. Years later, she helped discover the cause of her rare illness.

By Lisa Sanders, M.D.

Article Image

Illustration by R. O. Blechman

Poem: Final Poem for My Father Misnamed In My Mouth

The speaker grapples with the grief of losing a father who was missing while alive, but in death feels omnipresent.

By Phillip B. Williams and Victoria Chang

Article Image

Illustration by Louise Zergaeng Pomeroy

Judge John Hodgman on Paying for Precheck

A couple disagrees about waiting in airport security lines.

By John Hodgman

Stay in touch:

Follow us on Twitter (@NYTmag) or check us out on Instagram.

Appreciated this email? Forward it to a friend and help us grow.

Loved a story? Hated it? Write us a letter at magazine@nytimes.com.

Did a friend forward this to you? Sign up here to get the magazine newsletter.

Listen to narrated versions of our articles every week. Download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance.

You received this email because you signed up for The New York Times Magazine from The New York Times.

To stop receiving these emails, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences.

Subscribe to The Times

Connect with us on:

twitterinstagram

Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices

LiveIntent LogoAdChoices Logo

The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018

Commentaires

Posts les plus consultés de ce blog

This Is What Fish Oil Supplements Actually Do

Chris Froome sends out strong message to his rivals as he storms back to win Criterium du Dauphine for the second time

Kid draws a hilarious family portrait, featuring his mother on her period