[ca] Landlord Refuses To Mail My Security Deposit And Says I Have To Pick It Up

I’m in California. I moved out on July 30, so tomorrow is the 21 day deadline for my landlord to return my security deposit. A few days after I moved out, I texted my landlord my forwarding address and asked him to mail my deposit to me because I’m currently out of town and can’t come pick it up.

Today, one day before the deadline, he finally contacted me about the deposit. He said he has a check waiting for me and told me to come get it. I reminded him that I had already asked him to mail it and had given him my address. The conversation got pretty hostile. He was insulting me and also started talking about water jugs that he says I left at the property. I honestly have no idea what he is talking about. He told me I needed to come back and move them. I offered to have a friend pick up my deposit for me and take care of the jugs if they were actually there, but he still refused to mail the check.

He ended the conversation with: “It’s here. Come get it when you are back.”

I really don’t want to make a separate trip just to pick up a check when I already gave him my forwarding address and asked him to mail it. It would take a lot of time and effort for me to do that. There is also a separate dispute about a plumbing deduction, but I’m not asking about that here. I’m only asking about the return of the deposit. For some context, my landlord is in his late 80s. I moved out partly because I had concerns about his ability to manage things, and I really don’t want to take an elderly landlord to court. I’m trying to handle this as peacefully as possible.
I have screenshots of our texts showing that I gave him my address, asked him to mail the deposit, and his responses today.

Can he refuse to mail the deposit and require me to pick it up instead? If I don’t go pick it up, could that hurt my rights to the deposit in any way?

I’d really appreciate advice from anyone familiar with California security deposit law. I’m trying to get this resolved without going to court.

Location: California