Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Your option is to sue them in small claims court for return of the deposit amount withheld and/or additional damages for bad-faith retention of the deposit. Was the accounting mailed to you within 21 days of your move-out? Did they offer to conduct a walk-through prior to move-out to review the condition of the apartment? Read California Civil Code �1950.5 for the technical requirements imposed on the landlord for use of your security deposit. If they did not comply, then take them to Small Claims Court. The biggest problem you will have is proving the condition of the apartment. You need to always document the condition of the property when you move out for just this reason. Seven months after the fact, it will be tough to prove to a judge that you were not responsible for the damage. The landlord almost certainly has pictures as well as receipts for the carpet, so your evidence of not having caused the damage is going to be limited to your word, and that might not prevail.

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