I subletted a room in nyc for about 5ish months in 2017. I paid a $2,000 security deposit and my rent was $1,900 plus utilities each month. Everything was fine with my roommate while we lived together. But, the landlord was dodgy in emails, not giving us any estimate for when we’d get the security deposit back ($4,500 total I think but I only paid $2,000).

All of a sudden, this roommate started blaming me for not getting the deposit back. My bed frame had scuffed up one of the walls in my room... marks the landlord would have to just buff out before the next tenant came in, but not something they’d ever take money out of the deposit for... right?

Anyway, since I was a subletter, she still needed to give me my deposit back, even if she didn’t get hers back - it isn’t my responsibility to deal with the landlord. She decided that she would give me my deposit back if I signed a different document (not the sublet agreement), promising to pay back any of the money if the landlord decides the scuffs are deductible. I was pissed and said I wouldn’t do it, I’d just wait. It all seemed so ridiculous.

It turns out the reason the landlord was being shifty was because my roommate decided to sue the building for not handling our mouse problem sufficiently. And apparently that means the security deposit would be held until the case was decided... which I never found out because this woman left for graduate school in London immediately.

No word from anyone since. I’ve even tried calling and emailing the building management with no success - the number kept ringing then hung up and the email bounced back.

All I have is the address for the roommate’s parents in Seattle... or where they lived in 2017.

Is there any way to get this security deposit back? I feel like I’ve tried everything, but maybe I haven’t.