A "friend" and I moved into a house in Oklahoma. Her name is on the lease, mine is not. I paid of all the bills and half of the deposit and she paid the other half. One day out of nowhere she sent me a text message, of all things, saying I had less than 2 weeks to get my things out because she had others moving into her house and they would be taking my room. Her reasons were that I cleaned my bathroom too much and I stayed with my boyfriend a lot so there was no point in me living here. Luckly I was able to find a place and moved out ASAP! Now, I'm trying to get my deposit back that I wrote a check to the landlord for. The tenat said she would give me my deposit back and now refuses to give me it and the people she moved into my room also will not give me any. I went to the landlord on the matter and he won't give it back to me either. Since I gave him a check is he required to give it to me or are they or is anybody? Any help on the matter would be great! Thanks

Since your name was not on the lease, you have no official relation to the landlord. In effect your roommate was YOUR landlord so SHE owes you the deposit back. She also illegally forced you out. Since you had no written lease you were considered a periodic tenant. She was required to give you WRITTEN notice of at least one full rental period that she was terminating your tenancy. A text message with less than 2 weeks notice was illegal.

However, to get your deposit back you will need to sue her.

Take your ex-roomate to small-claims court.

The ex room mate will have to be the one to pay you. If she will not, take her to small claims court.

Thank you for your quick reply. Is she obligated to give me the deposit back no matter what? Or would it just be how it is presented in court?

It is to be paid, unless she can prove that you tore up something

I tore up nothing, I kept my affects clean and undamaged.. one of the reasons she kicked me out was for being too clean... Should I still present her with a written letter requesting for my deposit back along with the actual landlord?

Again, you have no relation to the actual landlord. Do not involve them at all. At the top of this forum is a sticky note with links to state laws. Check the laws for OK and see what the rules are for returning a deposit.

I know that if I sue the actual landlord, I can ask for double the amount of the deposit. Since I'm going to sue my ex-roommate, can I ask for double the amount of the deposit given that she forced me out illegally?

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Originally Posted by KenOSU

I know that if I sue the actual landlord, I can ask for double the amount of the deposit. Since I'm going to sue my ex-roommate, can I ask for double the amount of the deposit given that she forced me out illegally?

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Probably not. What you can ask for is the actual deposit amount plus the court costs. For a small-claims matter that's typically around $25, give or take.

Your roommate WAS YOUR landlord. You can treat her as you would ANY landlord. If the state law provides the deposit has to be returned within a set time or the landlord owes double, then yes you can collect double from her.

As for her forcing you out, even though she didn't follow the law in telling you to vacate, you still left voluntarily. If you had stated and fought it you would have gotten more time. But you didn't so that issue is moot.