My question involves a security deposit in the State of: CA
I gave my roommate 30 days' notice that I was moving out. When I moved in, I paid her previous roommate the security deposit, with the understanding that roommates moving out get their deposit from the new roommate, or if both of us decided to move out, we would get our deposits from the landlord, a real estate company. She has found a new roommate, but instead of paying me, he paid my roommate the security deposit. I have asked my roommate to pay me back for the security deposit, but she does not respond and ignores my messages. Because her name is on the lease and mine is not, and I was only renting a room for a short period of time, is she obligated to pay me my deposit back? Should I take her to small claims court for this? I let her and the new roommate know that I would not move my stuff out for the new roommate until I received my deposit from her. I just want my deposit so I can get out of this situation as soon as possible.

