Who Recovers the Deposit When an Idaho Lease Transfer Falls Through

Attorney Answer

The hard part first: you paid the $1,600, but you were never on the lease — and Idaho's deposit statute runs to the tenant of record, which here is your roommate, not you. That is the central obstacle in your situation, and no amount of proof that the money left your bank account changes who the landlord owes the accounting to.

Idaho Code § 6-321 requires the landlord to refund the security deposit or provide a written itemization of the amounts kept, the reasons, and a detailed breakdown of the expenses charged against it — within 21 days if no time is fixed by agreement, and in no event later than 30 days after surrender where a longer period is fixed by written agreement. No deduction may be taken for normal wear and tear. But the statute governs the landlord's timing and itemization duty toward the tenant. It does not resolve competing claims to a deposit between former occupants, an incoming tenant, and a landlord after a disputed transfer. Your recovery of the $1,600 realistically runs against your roommate, or against the incoming tenant if he agreed to buy you out — not against the landlord under § 6-321.

Second, whether your roommate was released. That is a contract question, not a deposit question, and it turns entirely on the documents. You have a landlord email saying "Yes," a portal that added the incoming tenant and showed your roommate with no residence, and a new lease signed with the new landlord in reliance on a verification the current landlord gave them. The landlord now says the transfer was conditional on all roommates accepting terms and that she never signed to finalize. Those are competing accounts of the same agreement, and whichever is right will be decided by what the writings actually say and what the parties did. That makes preservation of every message the single most valuable thing you can do this week.

Also be realistic about the "unauthorized occupant" and threat allegations. Those are the landlord's leverage. They do not erase a completed transfer if one occurred, but they are why this needs to stay in writing and stay calm.

What you can do

1. Preserve everything today. Export the full email threads, including the "Yes" reply and the later reversal, with headers. Screenshot the portal showing the incoming tenant added and your roommate with no residence, with the date visible. Save the new lease and anything showing the landlord verified your roommate's release to them. 2. Have your roommate — not you — send the written deposit demand, because he is the tenant of record under Idaho Code § 6-321. It should request the refund or the itemized statement, and it should be sent after surrender and inside the statutory window. 3. Document your own payment: the bank record showing the $1,600, and any text or email where the incoming tenant agreed to repay you. That is what a claim against the incoming tenant or your roommate rests on. 4. Have your roommate respond in writing to the "you are still on a signed lease" email, disputing it, attaching the written confirmation of the transfer and the portal record, and asking for a current ledger of what the landlord claims is owed. 5. Do not let charges accrue in silence. Ask, in writing, whether rent is being charged on the old unit and for what months. 6. Document the move-out: photos of every room, a dated written notice of surrender, and a record of when and to whom the keys were returned. 7. Keep all communication written and unemotional. Given the threat allegation, no phone calls and no in-person confrontations. 8. For the $1,600, small claims court is the practical venue — but sue the right person. Bring your bank record and any repayment promise.

⏱ Time limits apply. Idaho Code § 6-321 sets the landlord's refund-or-itemization deadline at 21 days if no time is fixed by agreement, and no later than 30 days after surrender where a longer period is fixed by written agreement. Those run from the actual surrender of the premises, which on these facts is contested — so have the written demand sent promptly rather than waiting for the transfer dispute to resolve.