Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California

Re: Former landlord filed bankruptcy

11 U.S.C. � 523 provides the basis for excepting from discharge a debt owed to a creditor that fits into one of nineteen categories. In an individual (or joint) chapter 7 bankruptcy, debts are discharged unless they fall within one of these categories, and you as the creditor generally will have to file an adversarial proceeding to have the debt determined by the court to have been nondischargeable. For debts of the type you discuss, probably subsections 2 and 4 are the only ones that might fit your situation, and subsection 2 is almost certainly not going to work (hard to prove that she obtained the money through false pretenses as she did [I assume] rent you the apartment and it was only when you left that she improperly retained the money). Subparagraph 4 presents a potential, but I would have to do some research to determine if you can stretch a landlord's obligation to return a security deposit into a fiduciary obligation owed to you as a tenant. Its an interesting question, but I also fear you may be correct that the amount in controversy may not even cover the fees I would expend to research the issue more thoroughly, let alone bring an action to have it determined to be nondischargeable. You could take a stab at filing the action yourself - there is a good chance that the debtor (your landlord) won't have the money to fight the adversarial proceeding, and you might be able to obtain a determination of nondischargeability by default. Good luck, but I fear your conclusion about hiring an attorney is correct.

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