Seller keeping rent after closing

[Pete Harper]

We closed on a property on March 29th. Two of the units are section 8 housing. The housing authority mistakenly sent the April rent to the previous owner. It took me a while to track the money down. The seller finally admitted she received the payment. After a few emails back and forth she agreed to refund the money. When we received the refund I noticed we were short of full payment. Seller explains she is keeping 10% “management fee”. I notified her that she was not entitled to any of April’s rent because we closed in March. No response from seller.

What are my options? Should I take her to small claims court? We are both out of town investors. Can I file in my local court or do I need to file where the property is located?

Thanks, Pete