[kasmith]

The landlord is not involved in this situation because the deposit is paid out through the new roommate to the old roommate.

What can I do to get my $ back?

[AK lawyer]

The landlord is not involved in this situation because the deposit is paid out through the new roommate to the old roommate.

What can I do to get my $ back?

There are not quite enough dots here to connect and get the whole picture.

You assumed a sublease, replaced the old roommate by paying the old roommate his deposit? Is your roommate (roommate of the "old roommate and new roomate) the person who is on the lease? Does the lease allow subleases to roomates? Did you sign a sublease agreement.

[ScottGem]

The way I read it, when a new roommate moves in, they pay a deposit that is then turned over to the vacating roommate to reimburse them. What seems to have happening is the new roommate wrote a check to the remaining roommate and this wasn't turned over to you as the vacating roommate.

The person on the lease, is the landlord for people he is subleasing to. Whether it be one roommate or many. That person is responsible for returning any deposits paid according to the laws where you live. Generally, the landlord has approximately 30 days to return the deposit or an itemized accounting of how it was used.

Since you don't indicate where you reside (ANY question on law needs to include a general locale as laws vary by area) or how long since you vacated or whether you moved out legally or what the landlord has said about the deposit we have no way to provide advice on how to proceed.

[LisaB4657]

You have to file a lawsuit against both the remaining roommate and the new person who moved in. The new person will answer the suit by stating that they paid the deposit to the remaining roommate and the court will require the remaining roommate to pay the deposit to you.