I did this before and ended up in court. If you're renting from a property management company (not an uncommon situation), chances are they have counsel, or are perhaps themselves attorneys. They're willing to play chicken.<p>(We ended up settling to recover the security deposit).<p>Style note: it might not be the best idea to repeatedly threaten legal action. First, as I learned recently on HN, doing that can create a procedural opportunity for your adversary.<p>Second, the law <i>is in fact on your side</i> in these cases, and, as I learned when we sued our landlord, the most effective way to win these cases is statutorily: you carefully establish the timeline and the basis for contesting the damage, and if they don't respond properly, they can auto-lose the case and be on the hook for treble damages.<p>If I found myself in this situation again, I'd send a note emphatically but emotionlessly contesting the damages, noting dates carefully, and send that registered mail. I would not attempt to educate the landlord on landlord-tenant law.