Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New Jersey

LawGuru Team,

I was planning on not getting my security deposit back for the house I lived in last year, but I was overjoyed when I heard that my landlord was returning me 390 of the 650 I paid that wasn't used to "clean the carpets". Anyway, while I was living somewhere else, she decided to give the money for her six tenets in cash to one of the tenets to distribute among us. When I asked him later about the deposit, he told me about his receiving the money and claimed to have lost all of it when it was stolen from his room later that week. My question is: who is liable for the 390 dollars I should have received?


Asked on 10/28/10, 2:11 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jeffrey Walters Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Walters, LLC

Your question is a bit unclear. Who is this other tenant? Was he on the lease with you? Or was he just some guy who the landlord figured would give you the money? Who are these other "six tenants?" If you were owed security deposit back from your landlord, and she gave it to someone with no authority to accept it on your behalf, then it is the same thing as not giving it back to you. You should look to your landlord for the money back. If she will not give it back to you, I would suggest a suit in small claims court. If you win, you can get a judgment for double the amount that should have been returned.

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Answered on 11/04/10, 10:05 pm


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