Asking good landlords about charges to tenants deposit

[Tiffany Evors]

My husband and I moved out of our leased home a few weeks ago. We always kept the place extremely neat & clean the entire 13 months we lived there. We actually own and operate a high-end luxury home cleaning business. We hired professional cleaners upon move-out & also had the carpets professionally cleaned at 6 months living there and again upon move-out and used proper chemicals and a professional power washer to clean any oil stains from the driveway we may have caused with our old work vehicle. Our landlord charged us the following odd, ridiculous charges: $3.33 To empty out the ice from the freezer ice maker $1.08 To screw a lightbulb in the bathroom vanity $30.00 To remove a nice black metal paper towel holder we had put in the kitchen cabinet $6.67 To fill and paint a tiny minuscule hole barely visible to the naked eye in the kitchen pantry door $3.00 For a smoke detector battery $3.33 To remove a small piece of duct tape from a wall switch in the kitchen we had placed there because every time someone flipped the switch accidentally it would turn the dishwasher off. Most people thought it was a light switch or even the garbage disposal switch. $13.33 To unscrew a small bottle opener and supposedly repairing the two little holes. $20.00 To repair a cracked microwave exhaust cover, which was actually already cracked when we moved in, but we didn’t catch it early enough to get it on our move-in walk-through report unfortunately. $6.67 To remove the piece of duct tape and residue over the crack of the microwave exhaust cover we had placed. $3.33 To put a smoke detector back on the ceiling (We had finally removed it because no matter how many times we replaced the battery, we finally realized it was broken, we could never get it to stop the constant annoying chirping, And we forgot to put it back up before leaving) And the most ridiculous one of all… $20.00 To take our 2 trash cans to the curb along with the some extra bags of trash and old empty cardboard boxes. We came back to do it the day after moving out, the night before trash day, and they had already done it which she said was no problem they didn’t mind, and then we got this charge! We didn’t take them to the curb the day we moved because it is against HOA rules and we didn’t want our landlord to receive a fine. Unbelievable!!! There are numerous other small nickel and dime type dumb charges, totaling to $265.46, which the landlord took out of our deposit. We have never in all of our years of leasing nice homes, seen something like this. We are dream tenets every landlord wishes they could have… We treat the home with excellent care, keep it very clean, don’t damage the property and return it in awesome condition, which is why we have impeccable references both personal and professional and an absolutely excellent rental history. We pay our rent every month, don’t cause any problems with the neighbors or for our landlord and we have always received our full deposit back upon moving out. We are dumbfounded and wondering if we should just accept this or what we should do, if anything. Professionals, please advise! Thank you, The Evors Austin, TX