My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Texas
Here's the facts:
I paid to break my apartment lease because my girlfriend and I split up. My girlfriend has been a longtime friend of the apartment manager. When we broke the lease, I paid the fee in total because my girlfriend said she could not afford the place on her own and would move out.
After I paid the fee, the manager did not make my girlfriend sign the broken lease statement. After I moved out, the manager did not break the lease and allowed my girlfriend to sign the apartment over to herself. I asked the manager what was going on, and she confirmed the lease was extended in my girlfriends name.
The manager asked me what I wanted to do with the fee, and I stated that I wanted it returned to me. The manager kept the fee and applied it to my girlfriends account. After 5 weeks I still have not received the fee. I have also been told that my girlfriend will have to write an approval letter to release the funds. This all sounds very fishy to me considering I never approved the fee to be applied to her account. It seems as though they both conspired to defraud me of the fee and never intended to return it.
Can I sue the apartment manager and my girlfriend for fraud and/or larceny in small claims court? I don't know why I would need my girlfriend to approve returning the fee since the manager falsely applied it to her account. I also want to know if I can press charges against them and have them arrested for larceny/fraud.

