If the new party bought the corporate entity (or if he continues to use the name, check with an attorney on that one) he's on the hook for the deposits whether he knew about them in the purchase agreement or not. If he just bought the assets (tooling, inventory, office equip, and so on) then your comment would be correct. If it's the former, and it's worth it to you, file in small claims court. If you have documentation it's a slam dunk in your favor. Only thing is, you'll have to file in his jurisdiction and even with a judgement you'll still have to pursue collection, but at least you'll be on legal ground rather than just giving up.