Jointly and severally liable agreement

[Nancy Beltran]

Hello:

Asking for advice. As a landlord, I have a 'jointly and severally liable agreement' with 4 tenants. The lease is about to expire end of April. Half of the tenants want to move out and the other half wants to stay. Can I legally ask the tenants staying to figure out the portion of the deposit to be provided to the leaving tenants?

My understanding with a 'jointly and severally liable agreement' is that the group is considered as one, so if any of them stay they will have to figure out themselves if a portion of the deposit will need to be distributed. Have you dealt with a similar situation? TIA!