Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Georgia

You probably should sue.

Did you notify landlord when you left, Sept. 3 or so?

Do you have copies of your complaint correspondence?

You'd then given the balance of a month's rent PLUS a securitydeposit (which likely covered the supposed maintenance etc.).

Some states give tenants double or treble the deposit back to you if therewasn't a sufficient and timely (30 days) explanation of the exact nature of the damages -- the reason for withholding the deposit -- sent to you in writing.

One of the things the landlord would also have to prove to charge you extra months of rentwas that the place went unrented in spite of goodefforts to get it rented (a legal principle calledmitigation of damages) EVEN THOUGH your lease did make you responsible for yet more months of rent.

Anyway, you have another recourse: inform any credit reporting agency that you contest his allegations. Don't sit on that -- do it sooner rather than later.They might do a small amount of arbitration, in a sense,or they might simply remove the listing entirely and askhim for stronger evidence. They have a duty to you, you know, under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.Depending on the strength of his claims, Landlord may be willfully in violation of the Act makinghim subject to civil penalties.

Ask a local attorney for more help. I don't know your state's laws.