How to get deadbeat college roommate (1 of 4) to pay rent?

[Gwen Barnes]

I rent to college students, 3-4 per unit. My problem is that sometimes one of the students will not pay rent but the others do. What is my best recourse?

That is, I will sometimes be paid 2/3 or 3/4 of the rent for the unit, but the last roommate may not pay for months on end. I have not yet had someone actually default, they usually come up with the money eventually, but it is stressful and I would like a better way to handle it. All 3 (or 4) tenants' names are on the lease.

Should I proceed with eviction? I don't know if I even CAN evict because I do have part of the money. And if I'm getting 3/4 of the rent each month, they're not even going to be behind a full month's amount for 4 months. Even if I could evict, I'm not sure I should. Since this is a college town, it is unlikely that I would be able to get new tenants in the unit before the current tenants' lease is up anyway. 3/4 rent is better than 0 (right?)

I would appreciate suggestions on how to get the deadbeat roommate to pony up. Thanks.