Atlanta Security Deposit Dispute - Seeking Friendly Advice

[Toby Coons]

Hello everyone, 

My roommates and I have run into a slight conundrum regarding our security deposit at a rental we just moved out of in Atlanta, Georgia. I was trying to think of who I could ask for advice and, since I do not personally know any real estate attorneys, BiggerPockets came to mind as the next logical spot to pose the question. 

A little background information is that I moved into a house last summer and for a security deposit, paid one month's rent ($4,000).  Per the lease it was the tenants' responsibility to cover lawn maintenance and water was to be paid by the landlord and reimbursed by tenants.

Although it was the tenants' responsibility to maintain the lawn, we worked out a handshake agreement that the landlord would continue paying his lawn guy and we would reimburse him for it. Roughly 4-6 months in (Let's say December), we settled up on water and lawn charges and wrote the landlord a check for ~$1,500 (~$1,200 water/ ~$300 lawn). At this time, we decided that going forward it would make sense for us to pay the lawn guy directly so the landlord didn't have to worry about coordinating. We have a text message screenshot showing this determination. 

Fast forwarding to moveout, we cleaned the home to a very respectable living condition and notified the landlord we would be out mid-afternoon. He stated that he was too busy to come by so just asked we leave the keys and he would come by at a later time/date. We did as he requested and, since I know people will ask, we made the mistake of not taking any pictures upon moveout.

The next week we received a certified letter stating his deductions from our security deposit. A rough summary of the letter is below.

Annual water expense:                                  $2500

Annual lawn expense:                                    $800

Total reimbursable expenses:                        $3300

Less December check for reimbursables: - $1500

Total reimbursables due:                                        $1800

Cost to remove sat. dish and repair roof/shingles: $275

Professional cleaning / trash removal:         $600

Total amount owed by tenants:                      $2675

Balance of $4000 dep. to be returned to tenants: $1325

Upon receipt of the letter, I reached out to the landlord asking to discuss the charges and state that we disagreed with some. He simply stated that these were pass through expenses or damages incurred by us. I responded that I understand but I would like to see invoices for all of the costs he is claiming (as they felt expensive and I drove by the house to saw that the dish we were being charged to remove was still installed on the roof) and am disputing the additional $500 of lawn expenses that seemed to appear out of nowhere ($800 claimed less the $300 which were legitimate and paid in December when we began paying the lawn guy directly).

At this point, the landlord went silent. 

I responded to his letter with a certified letter of my own describing our disputes and again requesting invoices for all deductions. I emailed him a copy of the letter and stated that I had sent via certified mail to the address we had just moved out of (since he owns the property and did not respond when I requested his home/business address). 

I sent a follow up text 20 days after move out asking if he had assembled the invoices. No response.

Fast forward again to today. We are over a month past our moveout date (I looked into GA law and it states the landlord has one month to return the check) and we have not received any sort of response or a check.

At the end of the day, he still owes us over $1,300 regardless of how he handles our dispute to the charges. I know that an option is to sign up for the case to be heard in Fulton County magistrate court but am nervous that he knows something we don't given his sheer silence and multiple years of experience as a landlord (I think he has had 10-15 properties for 10+ years so this isn't his first rodeo). 

Any advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all!