Stolen Security Deposit by Co-Tenant: How to Recover Your Money and Deal With Threats

Three women were sharing a 3BHK flat in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow. When the tenancy ended in late March 2025, the landlord handed over the full settlement amount of Rs. 13,500 to one co-tenant, Pooja Srivastava, on behalf of all three. The landlord had deducted a portion from Pooja's share because she had given only a half-month notice, while the other two co-tenants, Meena Bajpai and Ritu Chandra, had sent notice to both Pooja and the landlord nearly six weeks in advance — screenshots confirmed this. The total deposit had been Rs. 9,000 per person.

Pooja collected the entire Rs. 13,500 and went silent for over a week. When Meena and Ritu followed up, she returned only Rs. 5,000 combined — roughly Rs. 2,500 each — without any explanation. She then blocked both of them, along with the landlord, on every platform. The landlord separately confirmed, in writing, that Ritu was owed an additional Rs. 4,000. Despite all attempts to reach Pooja's family, they too had blocked all contact.

Things got worse from there. Pooja sent a threatening message stating she would come to their new residence and they would "see the consequences," naming their new address specifically. She also claimed they owed her money for household utensils — but a prior message from her, on record, stated she was not taking any utensils with her. Meena and Ritu approached Advocate Sudhir Rao after their initial attempts to resolve the matter informally — including outreach through mutual contacts and a demand message — had produced no response. With a structured approach addressing both the cheating and the criminal intimidation angle at the same time, the matter moved toward resolution far more effectively than their earlier unguided efforts had allowed.

You can read about this case in detail at https://sudhirrao.com/stolen-security-deposit-co-tenant-money-recovery-india/