So more info. We've been out of the house for about 4 months already and he didn't return out deposit. He clearly just wanted to keep our deposit because he gave us a bill of a bunch of items that clearly exceeded our security deposit and suggested that he would go to court to recover it, then disaapeared.
I'm assuming he just wanted to keep our money out of spite and have us go away without disputing. He underestimated.
I was just going to ask for most of it back, allowing him to keep the money to clean the carpets which we forgot to do. THat's in our lease. But then he started adding things like cleaning the drapes (definitely normal wear and tear), cleaning the kitchen (it was SPOTLESS when we left which it was not when we moved in) and replacing some shrubs (that he negelected for 10 years).
So now I want to teach him a lesson for putting me through the hassle. I am going to sue for attorney fees for recovery and anything else I can think of. (Gas, time off work, etc..)