Hi! I’m a renter in NYC. My roommate and I signed a two-year lease last year (with my dad as a guarantor). He went on a trip about a week ago and has been ignoring my texts and calls. Today I learned, via a secret call from his father, he plans to move out mid August without talking to me or consulting me or my landlord. He just plans to up and leave which, will in turn, will void our lease for the next year. Is there a way I could sue or file claim for the rest of the money he would owe on our lease? All at once or maybe month by month? I’m not sure how it all works, and I still can’t get a hold of him.

This isn’t a cash grab scheme or something like that. I need to know how to get the other portion of the rent to not go homeless. My father signed as a guarantor in order for us to secure the place together, but he himself cannot afford to pay the other half of the rent.