Texas Apartment - I vacated my apartment on 01/31/06. Written notice was provided on 12/29/05 and included a forwarding address. I paid a security deposit and deposit for gate remote. I have yet to receive any communication from the apartment complex regarding the status of my deposit refund.

03/14 - Spoke with a staff member who said she would “look it up and get back to me.”

03/17 - Spoke with the same person. She stated she was off the day before and was swamped with work. She has no time to call the accountant and actually hung up on me.

03/20 - Spoke to same person. She stated she left a message with her accountant and she did not know when they would cut a check. She would need to keep checking back with them.

03/28 – Spoke to same person. This time I asked for the phone # to their management office. I was told that was the management office. I explained who I was and she said the accountant was out of state. I asked to speak to her supervisor – she stated she is out on vacation for two weeks. I requested her name and phone #. She gave me the name and said the phone # is the same as the office #. I asked for the # to the corporate office and was told the apartments were privately owned. I asked for her supervisor’s supervisor and was told she is the “boss”. She stated the accountant has other duties they are busy with and I am not a priority. I let her know that Texas law requires landlords to refund security deposits within 30 days and she was unimpressed and said “oh well.” I asked if she needed any documentation from me as I have canceled check copies and copies of my lease. She said nope and hung up.

Is small claims court the next step? How do you show the landlord showed “Bad Faith” in returning a security deposit? How much does small claims court cost – is the apartment responsible for any legal fees I incur?