"prorated Cost Doesn't Apply To Carpet Damage"

Location: Ohio

I've never had a landlord be so sloppy with how improper they handled my security deposit.

First I'll start with the fact that I moved out on July 30th 2026, I conducted a move out inspection walk through with the office representative and the maintenance manager, head of their maintenance team. Knowing that things happen and wanting to cover all of my tracks I video recorded this walkthrough where neither the front desk or maintenance personnel gave me anything of note to the apartment. I left it in excellent, undamaged extremely clean condition, you can see both of the individuals on video walking into the bedroom where the only carpet was and inspecting it. At the end of the video they both said we're good.

At the 3 minute 25 second mark the office personnel said and I quote "well we have nothing for you right now, obviously keep up on your email let us know if anything changes .. we will send your financial move out statement and everything there."

Not a single mention of any damage, not a single mention of an odor, no notes for me and nothing for me to sign. Perfect, I leave and give them the keys waiting for an email by August 31st which would be the 30-day mark. I did not give a forwarding address yet because we just discussed our line of communication would be through email, they had to deduct the final month of renters insurance that lapsed on my end which I agreed to, plus the click in blinds that everyone breaks. In order to have an undisputed statement and to make sure I'm not being overcharged for anything got it best to complete the move out and give them my new address for the paper check they would mail me to fulfill the remainder of my $500 security deposit after review in email.

I waited until day 28, August 27th, and finally sent them a follow-up email claiming that since I still haven't had anything I would be expecting my new check soon and to confirm whether they were sending that in the mail or if I could come pick it up so it doesn't get lost. They had the rest of the day Thursday from 2:00 p.m. when I sent that email and all day Friday and still did not reach back until Monday.

On day 32, August 31st, they sent me the itemized statement including the replacement of carpet and subflooring totaling $408 plus the blinds and insurance laps, leaving me with a grand total of $48 of my $500 deposit. Here is where they claim they couldn't send me the regular check to the right location because I never gave them a new written address, except waiver and estoppel means that I didn't have to because we both agreed to communicate via email. They must have forgotten. Except now they're trying to charge me for the entire installation of the new carpet which I know is illegal so I try to get them caught in that, reminding them that even if it was damaged due to pet odor which I did not claim, landlords are not permitted to charge a tenant for the entire cost of new material, the prorated adjustment has to be for the remainder of life that my old carpet had.

Three times the office manager denied me this deduction claiming that I was not qualified because it wasn't normal wear and tear but excessive damage from pet odor that soaked through the subflooring pads. Never gave me proof of this damage, the damage that was not noted by their maintenance manager during the move out inspection, damage that entirely contradicts the entirety of my move out inspection video.

On September 1st I demanded my full $500 deposit returned to me at my new forwarding address due to multiple egregious bad faith deductions, not being able to prove the damage when I have video evidence it is false, fabricating an arbitrary odor that their own personnel did not corroborate, attempting to steal excessive funds from me and enrich themselves by denying me the orc laws, and the delay not receiving the itemized list with a paycheck together on the last legal day they had since the 30 day strict window landed on a Saturday. I did not have any money on the 31st.

September 1st I gave them seven days to give me a prorated adjustment to the carpet cost while still denying any damage, attempting to trap them in their own words once they backtrack and realize that the prorated adjustment does need to be applied for the deduction to seem legal, regardless of their lack of evidence.

They take the bait on September 4th, admitting through email that a prorated adjustment needs to be applied and finally issue a new statement on September 8th for $171.10 to be returned to me instead of the original $48. This to me means the original statement that the office argued and demanded I take was illegal and improper, attempted theft of $123. That statement was not given to me until the 14th and I did not receive the check until that day either, 14 days after the 30-day deadline. They also did improper depreciation math, claiming the section 8 apartment got 8-year longevity carpet the year I moved in so it still had six years of life left, the standard in Ohio is 5 years total for new carpet. A fabricated prorated adjustment is still fabricated.

Still denying damages I filed September 8th for small claims court downtown by 3:00 p.m. before I get the email at 7:00 p.m. given the official statement from the landlord's lawyer, the adjustments are correct, I am to be returned $171.10 of my $500 deposit. So if I hadn't looked up the law I would originally only have gotten back $48 and if I had never taken the video of the walkthrough proving that my apartment was in good condition and there was no odor severe enough for them to justify ripping up a carpet they claim had six more years of life they would have gotten away with taking all of my money.

Please tell me I covered my bases, I'm printing three copies of all of the emails, getting a flash drive for the video and have time stamped the important parts, it's only a 5-minute video so watching through to hear that they failed to mention an odor and arbitrarily entered it 32 days after I returned keys is textbook bad faith deposit deduction. Especially the fact that they tried to claim they couldn't give me my itemized list earlier than that Monday because I didn't give them a physical address except they still gave me the itemized list without a physical address just in my email like we originally agreed and communicated in person. I am so glad I took that video and you can clearly hear the woman say to check up on my email. Please tell me I did it right ):

Sorry for the wall of text I'm on mobile

Edit** TLDR; apartment complex claims I caused pet odor damage, walk through video with maintenance manager during move out inspection shows positive review, no negative claims of damage. Video passover shows clean apartment. Double damages for small claims? ????????