[bloughme]

My roommate moved out and in the process threw away things that were mine. These were items that were in my room, and it was clear that they were owned by me. I own the home and leased a bedroom to her.

I was gone for a trip and came back about a month later. When I came back, I couldn't find pants but didn't think about it. My roommate moved out the next month, and paid her last rent check.

Well, while I was gone, er cat apparently got into my bedroom and destroyed my laundry that I had out. I lost a few pairs of pants, worth $200.

Our cleaning lady found the pants shredded, deduced what happened, and told my roommate. My roommate said she'd "take care of it". The cleaning lady then told me what happened when I asked her about the pants and if she'd see them. The cleaning lady said she asked the roommate where they were later and the roommate said, "I got rid of them and gave Becky a check for them." (of course I got no check).

This was in Maryand. I have a written lease.

Do I have any legal recourse?

[joypulv]

You could try Small Claims. You might have a tough time proving ownership and cost of the pants, and you'd have to get the cleaning woman to either testify or write an affadavit (you don't really have first hand knowledge that any of this is true... ) Good luck. I'd chalk it up as a loss. Even if you pay the filing fee and win, you still have to get paid, and many people don't!

[ScottGem]

Did you have a security deposit? You can try withholding the costs of the items from the deposit. This would put the onus on the roommate to sue you.