Landlord withholding deposit in bad faith..

[lrw]

My lease has been terminated as of January 22, 2009. I haven't received any sort of communication from my landlord, not even regarding the return of my $550 deposit. I talked briefly to his secretary about a month ago who told me I would receive my entire deposit, my landlord just needed to sign the check. I have tried to call and talk to him and resolve this several times, but he only hangs up on me just after only hearing my name, then telling me to talk to his secretary. His secretary tells me she doesn't want to be in the middle of it and to talk to him.

I just sent a certified letter demanding the return of my deposit and am waiting to get the signature back from USPS. I am willing to file a lawsuit, but I live 2,000 miles away and would like to avoid flying over to file and attend trial. Can travel and other damages be included in the suing amount? Any ideas on how I should proceed in getting the deposit back?

Thanks for any help.


p.s. There are more than 6 apartments in the unit (~13) and I never received information on which bank is holding the deposit. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't keep deposits in a separate account.

[lrw]

update: I just checked the certified letter tracking number at USPS.com and it says it has been "refused". Can I still print this as sufficient evidence to show I tried demanding the deposit? I have a read receipt from an email I sent him as well, not sure if that works either.

Can I ask someone to hand it to him and then sign a paper for me saying they witnessed him receiving it??