Property damage - tenant's responsibility?

I am a tenant getting grief from my landlord over some property damage. A sliding glass mirror door installed 30 years ago when the condo was new fell
off its track during normal operation and broke. My landlord first told me
I'd have to pay the entire replacement cost, then said he'd pay for half (since only one door broke, but both have to be replaced), then said he'd pay for it all if I'd re-sign the lease for another year. Isn't this basically extortion? I don't plan on re-signing the lease, but now am worried he will simply not return my substantial security deposit, especially if I keep asking him to pay for it. 2 contractors both said the damage was not my fault, but was due to the age and poor maintenance of the door.

Also (in case the question wasn't implied), regardless of whether or not he's extorting me to re-sign the lease, isn't the door his responsibility to replace? He came up with a bunch of excuses such as overzealous contractors trying to get us to replace both doors, and claimed the majority of the original doors in the condo building's 1,000 units are operating normally, despite the fact that these statistics aren't tracked by the company, and he only owns 2 of them.

[OHlandlord]

This would be a tough call for a judge. It would be hard to prove whether the door breakage was your fault or not. A broken door could result from misuse or improper handling, or it could come from years of use or neglect. These types of doors don't normally come off their tracks since you need to lift them to take them off track. You could just refuse to pay and move out at the end of your lease. (When does your lease end?)

It is likely he would attempt to deduct this charge from your deposit as a damage. You would then have to send him a dispute letter to refute the charge (mailed CM RRR). Then the two of you would have to go to small claims court for a judge to sort it out. It could go either way depending on the evidence. You have contractors that state it was due to the age (not buying this reason) and poor maintenance of the door (this reason is more plausible). He could get a contractor to state differently.

If you don't want to re-sign a lease, don't. The fact that he is willing to pay for the door if you re-sign should be brought up to the judge.

Thanks a lot for answering my question. The door fell because the hardware that held the roller on the track broke apart. The thing took a real struggle every time I wanted to open or close the door; the 'rollers' locked up and slid on the track instead of rolling. It didn't help that the doors are a good 20 lbs or so each. I'll keep trying to get him to pay for it, he may just be dragging his feet as much as possible. My lease is up on July 1, but we've been going back and forth over this issue for almost a year now. My father, a contractor, was able to piece the roller and frame of the door back together, and I just leave the door permanently open now so as not to break anything else. Thanks again for the help.

on some of those doors it takes only replasceing the ropllers!!! get ur dad to replace the rollers if possible and say its fixed!! problem solved!!