Here is the whole of it — five steps, in order, from the day before the keys go back to the day the money lands.

One. Photograph everything at move-out

Before you leave, photograph or film every room: floors, walls, appliances, inside cupboards, with the date recorded. Then find your move-in photographs, if you have them. The gap between the two sets is the proof that a charge is pre-existing or ordinary wear.

Evidence wins deposit disputes; argument does not. If a final walkthrough is offered, take it, and take notes while you are in the room.

Two. Give a forwarding address, in writing

In many states the clock on the landlord's duty to return the deposit only begins once you have moved out and, often, given a written forwarding address. Send one, by email or certified post, so that there is a record of the date.

It also removes the excuse that they did not know where to send it. Find your state's deadline before you do anything else, because every later step is timed against it.

Three. Audit the itemisation line by line

When the statement arrives, do not read it as a total. Read it as a list, and for each line ask whether it is ordinary wear a landlord cannot deduct for — and, if it is genuinely damage, whether they have billed a full replacement for something already half spent.

That second question, depreciation, is usually where most of the money is.

Four. Send a written, itemised demand

Put the case in writing: polite, specific, numbered. Cite each disputed line and say why — ordinary wear, no itemisation, over-charged against remaining life — reference your state's deposit statute, attach the photographs, and give a firm date by which you expect the balance.

Keep it factual rather than angry. A clear letter that cites the law tells a landlord the work has been done, and a good many settle rather than argue it in front of a judge.

Five. Small claims is the backstop, not the plan

If the letter is ignored, small-claims court is built for exactly this: low filing fees, no lawyer required, a short hearing. In many states a landlord who withheld in bad faith, or who missed the statutory deadline, owes two or three times the wrongly kept amount plus costs.

The demand letter and the court case run on the same evidence, so nothing done in steps one to four is wasted if it comes to that.

One caution

Informational, never legal advice. Deadlines, penalties and what counts as wear are set by your state and your lease. For a dispute that matters, talk to a tenant lawyer or your local legal-aid office.