"landlord" Took Advantage Of Me And Won't Return $2k

To preface, I know this was REALLY dumb of me, but it doesn't excuse her behavior.

I'm a 20 yr old college student and ended up pretty desperate for housing before this semester. My aunt connected me to this lady who works out of state in the winter and needed a house sitter, and asks for some money to cover utilities and stuff.

Turns out it's a lot of money- she's essentially renting her house out while she's gone, except she was very emphatic it's not rent because she's renting her house, I'm *housesitting.* And I was. I paid $800/month plus snow plowing costs and in exchange I watered her plans, mowed her lawn, raked her leaves, and kept her house super clean. Also mailed her mail to her. She was extremely insistent it was housesitting- NOT my home- I couldn't host get togethers, move stuff around, or get water on the counters.

I'm an idiot and I really, really wanted her to like and trust me (her last two house sitters have quit, wonder why) so I paid her September-December, a bit of August for when I moved in, and $500 security deposit.

The house broke me. There wasn't wifi and it turned out to be essentially a dead zone so I couldn't do homework, I had to keep the house at 65 because she didn't want to pay for extra heat which made it uncomfortable (I get cold easily, I know 65 isn't that bad) and feeling like I couldn't live in the house made it unbearable. I quit near the end of October, profusely apologized and politely explained why. I was really being taken advantage of.

I asked for November and December's rent back, $150 for the last week of October (because she charged me that for the last week of August), and for the security deposit once she returned and got a chance to see the house. I left it in perfect condition and deep cleaned, and offered to continue watering her plants until she found a new sitter.

She didn't really respond, just said she'd get the security deposit back later that day after her friends checked the house. And then nothing. For the last month and a half I've periodically texted and called asking for communication and my money back, and she doesn't respond. I'm really frustrated because she's an adult (probably 60s) who works and has a life. I'm a student with less than $10k in the bank and $2,250 IS A LOT OF MONEY. I almost let it slide but this just isn't okay behavior and that money means a ton to me.

What are my legal options? My aunt thinks I have a chance in like, small claims court. We never signed a contract or agreement, and I saved all the texts, which obviously show how much money there is and where it belongs. I paid up front with a check that clearly stated " 'rent' + deposit ". I want to tell the landlady I'm going to talk to "the family lawyer," but I don't want to say that unless I can actually deliver.

My aunt also wonders if the landlady's been reporting this income... she rents out her house for 8 months/year and originally asked me for $1k a month, which means she's probably made at least 8-12k in the last few years depending on when her sitters quit. But that's a whole can of worms that I don't think would get this money back to me.

Thank you!