Who Should I Sue for Deposit

My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Washington.

I answered an ad on Craigslist to move into a rental house with another single mom who claimed to be a nanny by trade. I moved in on July 6, 2011. The rent was $1250 altogether, but I agreed to pay $900 if she would watch my child along with her own two children while I worked from home. I also paid a $500 deposit directly to the landlord. The verbal agreement between my roommate and I was that if things didn't work out, she would refund me my portion of the deposit herself. I was listed on the lease as an "additional occupant" and I did not sign the lease.

Over the next three months, I discovered that the roommate was not a nanny at all. She was actually a drug dealer who kept large quantities (pounds) of marijuana in a safe in her bedroom. She also became erratic and paranoid. I also did a belated criminal background check, and found that she had several drug charges in her past. It was clear that I could not trust her to watch my daughter, and that we needed to get out of the house as soon as possible.

On Sept 30, I gave written notice to her and verbal notice to the landlord that I would vacate the premises by Oct. 31. I stated that I would pay half of the rent for that month, as I would not need babysitting duties. I stated in an email to my roommate that I expected my $500 back as well as $164 that she had borrowed from me to purchase a trampoline and outdoor lights for the house. She answered in an email that she would pay me the latter in 2 weeks, and would pay me the deposit when the new tenants moved in on Nov. 1. She claimed that my dog had peed and made a stain on the carpet in one room, and she stated in the email "I'll refund your entire deposit as long as you shampoo the carpet in the x room."

I actually signed a new lease and moved out on Oct. 7. On October 27, I shampooed the carpet. On Oct. 30, I returned the keys.

I have since received emails from the roommate saying that I didn't shampoo the carpets well enough, and that she was 30 days after the last of the utility bills come in to return my deposit. She also says that she can keep my deposit to pay for unpaid bills. I do owe her some money for utilities, but she has yet to produce a bill to send me, and the amount is far less than what she owes me.

I might mention too that the house was in pretty rough shape when I moved in--stains in the carpet, holes in the walls, etc. The landlord told me that they had done a walk-through before I moved in, and that my roommate had opted to accept the house in "as-is" condition.

The landlord feels that my roommate and I need to work this out for ourselves, but the roommate is no longer answering my emails. Can I take my roommate to court and leave the landlord out of it? Or should I ask the landlord for the deposit and ask her to collect a new deposit from the new tenants? How long should I wait before I take action? How should I proceed?

(I would contact the police about the drugs but I am honestly afraid of retaliation)

Why did you pay $500 to the "nanny's" landlord? Other than that payment, you knew you weren't on the lease as a tenant and paid your rent to your roommate?

It sounds like you were the subtenant of your "roommate" such that if she won't return your deposit you can sue her in small claims court. We don't have enough facts to determine if you have a viable claim against your roommate's landlord.

I am also asking myself why I didn't do a lot of things, such as get more signed and in writing, and run a criminal background check BEFORE I entrusted this girl to watch my daughter.

But the simple answer is that a lot of this was done long distance. I was in Atlanta, GA and moving to Washington, and I didn't want to send money straight to the roommate when I hadn't met her yet. (I did have friends in the area meet her for me, though, and to all first impressions, she seemed alright). But why oh WHY didn't I run that background check to be sure!?

I paid the rent straight to the landlord as well. It just seemed easier that way. I have email in which the "nanny" explains that she considers herself the permanent resident of the house, and I was the temporary. I do have another email in which I promise her 6 months in hopes that things will work out well and I will stay longer. But I feel the drug dealing kinda negated that promise. Nonetheless, could she hold that against me? And should I preemptively let the judge know about the drug dealing? I'm a little nervous about the latter...

However the case, the "nanny" does promise me in email that she would refund the deposit herself. So do you think that this is enough info to go ahead in small claims court against her and leave the landlord out of it?

So far, it would appear that you initiated the payment to your roommate's landlord as opposed to your roommate, and it's not clear that you could make a case that your roommate's landlord has any liability. There may be additional facts that you haven't shared that might change my perception, but so far it appears that your claim needs to be made against your former roommate (who was, under the facts as given, your landlord). We don't know what evidence you have, if any, of the alleged drug dealing, but if you do have evidence that illegal activity or drug dealing was occurring in the unit that is something that a small claims judge may consider in relation to a claim that you breached the lease. (But you have told us that you gave proper notice, not that you left early because you became aware of the illegal activity.)

Unfortunately, I don't have concrete evidence of drug-dealing besides the fact that I actually saw a 5-pound bag of marijuana on her bed and when I asked her about it, she told me that she has a medical marijuana card, and the guy who supplies her is "generous." I then witnessed her putting it into a safe in her closet. She then told me later that she sells it "only" to her friends. But as far as pictures or anything like that, I don't have any evidence besides what I saw and heard.

Yes, I gave about 33 days notice, which she acknowledged. She also told me that she had new tenants moving in who would replace my portion of the deposit.