Shoe == dropped
We started the legal wheels in motion with our ex-landlady today. I left her a voicemail at her work number (pretty much the only known good contact info we have) that basically laid it all out: she's got 2 weeks to get in contact with us about our security deposit, or we'll file a civil claim against her.
It's kind of depressing in a way: in all other respects she was a nice landlady, and we know she's a divorced mom who is likely trying to make ends meet, but at the end of the day, she has a responsibility to us to make sure that she lives up to her end of our lease contract. Certainly a phone call explaining any trouble she's having would carry a lot more weight than avoiding us altogether. Hopefully, she'll see the light and realize that it'll be easier on everyone if we strike a deal rather than having Judge Larry Joe dispense TEXAS JUSTICE!
As it happens, I did some research on landlord-tenant contracts in Texas...
There's a specific clause in the Texas state code that deals with not getting your security deposit back: Title 7, Chapter 92, Subchapter C, section 92.109. In that section of the code, it states that if the landlord does not either a) give us the security deposit check or b) an accounting of deductions from the security deposit 30 days after the lease expires, the landlord is considered to be acting in bad faith. When that happens, they are a) liable for $100 PLUS 3x the security deposit PLUS any attorney fees and b) forfeit the right to withhold any of the security deposit for damages and other expenses. They also have the burden of proof of determining that withholding the security deposit is reasonable. Since we haven't heard jack about what, if any, our remaining security deposit would be, it seems pretty clear that we'd prevail in a civil court, but what is less clear (owing to the fact that I've thankfully never been involved with courts in any way) is when/if we'd get our money even if we prevailed.