$275 out of $900 doesn't seem right...

On Oct. 1st, 2007, myself and two others rented a house in SD. We payed $800 for a security deposit and $100 for a pet deposit. Our landlord pointed out some obvious problems with the house and we pointed out some to him.

Over the course of the lease (1 yr.) he was very kind, very understanding, and overall a good landlord. When our lease ended on Oct 1st, 2008, my roommates and I cleaned the house and left.

Now, on Nov. 25th, 2008, I have finally received my deposit back. The grand total: $273 for all three of us.

This is going to be a lot but please bear with me, the help will be very much appreciated.

1) Doesn't it seem wrong that it took nearly two months to receive the deposit?

2) Many of the deductions for repairs and cleaning seem either totally wrong or far overpriced.

For example:
--Our ex-landlord claims to have needed to fix a hole in the wall when we did not put any holes in any walls. He charged $55 and we have never seen the hole the entire time we lived there.
--He has charged us $75 to "replace window" when we never broke any windows! There was a window in a bedroom that had a hole in the screen (I noticed this one particularly cold winter day) and one of the screens on the patio had slipped out of place when we were opening windows one day. It was not broken, it was simply out of place.
--$22 charged for "dog damage in landscaping." He took pictures of the so-called damage (all of it, for that matter) and it's nothing that wasn't there before. In fact... The landscaping where this damage had occurred was so poorly maintained that I used money out of my own pocket to replace the weed sheets under the woodchips, the run-off guard along the concrete walkway, and four bags of woodchips. I put more work into that landscaping than anybody ever had, and all the dog had done was dig up one small hole.
--Over $300 in miscellaneous cleaning charges. Some of them understandable, others not so much. For example, when we moved in he pointed out some pet stains that previous tenants animals had left, now I'm being charged for those stains. The room with the stains had not even been vacuumed when we moved in. Cleaning of windows? $50 to clean a floor that we had swept, vacuumed, and Swiffer-ed? Cleaning behind a fridge and stove that had never been moved? Kitchen cabinets had crumbs, soap, and other items in them when we moved in. Drip-pans on the stove were brown and had pieces of food in them, now I'm getting charged for new ones. And the list goes on and on.

My roommates and I spent hours working on that house to get it cleaner than when we had arrived and were very confident that most of our deposit would come back to us and now we all feel like we're being completely robbed. Is there anything we can do? We did a walkthrough with the landlord when we moved in but it's apparent that he forgot things that even he pointed out as well as all the repairs and labor that I put into the house myself. Finally, our pet deposit doesn't even show up on his list of deductions yet I don't recall him ever saying anything about it being non-refundable.

Help?

Same guy, more info.

SD law states that a landlord must either return the deposit or give a written statement showing the reason for failure to return the deposit. I have no such notice. This particular landlord did call and say that it would be a couple of weeks until he had it ready but provided no written confirmation.

"The landlord may withhold from the deposit only such
amounts as are necessary either to remedy defaults in the
payment of rent or to restore the premises to its condition
at the beginning of the tenancy (ordinary “wear and tear”
excepted). If the landlord withholds the deposit, the tenant
may also demand an itemized account of the deposit
withheld. This must be provided within forty-five (45) days
of the termination of the tenancy."

The charges on the deduction sheet provided to me are obnoxious. $50 to clean a fridge that only needed a wipe-down? I painted an entire room for nothing when he failed to clean the walls after the previous tenant moved out! Part two of this complaint is that our lease expired on Oct 1st, 2008 but I did not receive the itemized deduction list until Nov. 25th, 2008; however, it was postmarked as sent on Nov. 23rd, 2008. Does this fit into the category of beyond 45 days of termination or is it too close?

The deposit statement you recived was 8 days over the 45 day limit (6 days if you consider the postmark.) Did you return the keys to him on October 1st? Those 45 days start counting when he has possession, you have returned the keys, and you have all items out of the unit. Was that date Oct.1? Only a judge could tell you if this would constitue a bad faith effort by your LL or not to get the deposit back to you within that time.

You need to dispute holes in the wall and replacing windows if you did not damage them.

If your dog dug a hole in the yard, you should have filled it in. You have to pay for not doing that. It doesn't matter what you did or didn't do to the yard in the interim. There was no hole when you rented it.

As for the cleaning charges, you have to leave the unit in the same condition as when you rented it. When you did the walk through at the beginning, was anything written down? It should have all been in writing to prove the condition of the unit when you moved in. You should have further noted, in writing, any items you found when you moved in so you could prove it was in that shape when you took occupancy. If neither you, nor the LL, wrote anything down, it will be your word vs. his in court.

All you ca do at this point is to write a dispute letter to him, disputing each of the charges one by one. State why you don't owe that charge or that amount for the work. Back it up with estimates to repair that type of damage, photos of the place when you moved in, etc. Send the letter by certtified mail, return receipt requested, and keep a copy. If he doesn't respond within a couple weeks, you have no choice but to go to small claims court and let a judge decide.