Security Deposit Getting security deposit back after moving out-of-state

[campbell25]

I moved out of my apartment June 1st, 2011. My landlord was legally responsible for returning my deposit within 14 days, according to WA state law. I moved to Southern GA, as my husband is in the military and that is where our next duty station was. On June 20th, having not received my deposit, my roommate and I both sent (separate) demand letters clearly spelling out the WA law requiring the return of the deposit within 14 days and threatened to take our landlord to court if she did not return the deposit within 1 week. Not only did she send my letter back to me saying that she moved (which was a lie), but never responded to my letter even when sent a second time. My roommate took her to court yesterday in WA and was awarded her full security deposit back. While I sent her with all of my documents and a consent letter giving her permission to represent me in court, she was unable to collect my deposit without me present.

So now I am here. I am working full-time and am pregnant and do not want to spend the $600+ to travel, rent a car, and find a place to stay in WA to take her to court. I am GUARANTEED my $800 if I take her to court (due to WA state law), but I will barely be making a profit if I have to spend that much money just to physically appear in a WA court. Is it possible for me to either A) send someone to court in place of me as a personal representative or B) not only sue her for my $800 deposit, but also tack on my travel costs?

Thank you.

 

[army judge]

Sorry, all you can recover is what she owes you, your $800!!!
That is under the scenario you posit.

But, and this is a good but for you!
In WA, you can get twice the deposit if you can show the following:

The landlord is in compliance with the law if the required payment, statement, or both, are deposited in the U.S. mail with first-class postage paid within 14 days. If the tenant takes the landlord to court, and it is ruled that the landlord intentionally did not give the statement or return the money, the court can award the tenant up to twice the amount of the deposit.

But, you must specifically ask the court for that relief.
In your case, it might be worth the $600 to return to WA to potentially get $1,600 awarded to you.

Here is a link that explains more:

http://www.okanogancounty.org/ochd/landlord_tenant_booklet.pdf