
Quoting
Just Breath
I'm not familiar with California's landlord/tenant laws, but as a former apartment manager, I can tell you that the purpose of the holding deposit is to compensate the landlord from any loss that might occur as a result of you NOT signing the lease. When you placed your deposit, the LL took the unit off the market. If you move in as agreed, then the deposit is applied to your security deposit.....if you don't, then the landlord keeps it to offset his loss caused by taking the unit off the market for you.
You might just start by calling the property owner and ASKING them if you are entitled to any refund of your holding deposit if you don't hold up your end of the agreement.