Landlord unfairly keeping deposit after end of rental contract
Hi, I'll try to keep this brief:
I'm an international student in Lund, just moved out of my room (30th of June). The next day, upon requesting my deposit, my landlord surprised me with a message saying that he will not be returning my deposit for these reasons:
- Damage to the front door due to slamming: while I did indeed close the door loudly a few times, so did his children who live downstairs. My roommate who moved in before me even had to ask them to close it more quietly because it was waking her up. On one occasion, however, my slamming caused the electronic lock to malfunction. The landlord never explained what was exactly wrong, but they took a hammer to the bottom of the door and since then, there was no issue. This is obviously the biggest reason for the deposit.
- Lost key: I did indeed lose an electronic key and should be charged for that. Not sure why they never asked for payment until the end of the contract.
Now the remaining two are total lies:
- Left room unclean: it was spotless when I left
- Balcony door not closing: it closes and has never had an issue.
So, that's the whole thing. There was no indication given that the landlord would be requesting money at the end of the contract until literally today.
Is there anything I can do? If so, where should I begin?
Thank you very much.