Here are the steps that you should take if your landlord refuses to return your security deposit:
- Talk to the landlord and tell him/her that you find the withholding of the deposit totally unreasonable. Ask for justification from the landlord. Try to convince the landlord about returning the deposit.
- If speaking to the landlord does not work, send a formal email to the landlord about how you feel about not receiving the deposit, the reasons why you feel the deposit should be returned and the fact that you are considering getting legal advice about recovering the complete security deposit from the landlord.
- If the landlord does not respond to the email as well, consider approaching a lawyer and asking him to sending a formal notice to the landlord asking for the return of the complete security deposit.
- If the issue remains unresolved even after this, you should talk to the lawyer and take his opinion on the legal options ahead of you.
Do note that once you approach a lawyer, your costs go up significantly as well – therefore make sure that the amount of time and money that you spend with your lawyer is justified by the money that you hope to get back.