<prompt> Human: Hi PFWe moved out of a rental in Los Angeles on January 1st. I gave 30 days notice via email on November 30th. On the 1st my wife did a walkthrough with the landlord, at which point he pointed out additional things he wanted us to do remove things we had missed, cut down some small candle holders my wife had hung from a tree, removing curtains we had hung, etc. So my wife, instead of handing him the key on the 1st, agreed to clean that stuff up and leave the key for him outside the house in a place that he specified. She did it and went on her way. Apparently he went on the 6th to find the key and couldnt. Where he said to put it was inside a crack of paint on the back wall of the house there are quite a few of those. He waited until the 12th of January to email me saying he couldnt get into the house because there was no key. I responded immediately by email saying I could meet him at the house and turn over the other key or leave it somewhere for him, but he didnt respond. On the 14th he emailed me exasperated that he still couldnt get in, and I went to the house immediately he wasnt there, had to leave work to do it and left the key in the garage for him. He apparently got in on the 16th. I sent an email reminding him about the 21 day rule, and he said we had to agree to a date that I actually vacated the property before he could assess how much to give back. Initially he wanted to charge us rent through the 16th because he couldnt get in, I responded with an email stating that was totally unacceptable and outlined the above info, and now he wants to charge us through the 6th instead. I havent responded yet.If I had known he was going to charge us rent to clean up the additional stuff, I would have told my wife to just hand over the key and walk away! It wouldnt have taken a hired maid more than an hour and less than 100 to throw away whatever was left. It wouldnt have taken more than 100 to hire a locksmith if he really couldnt get in. He wants to charge us 700 for the 6 days, which he did the math on from original rent a very steep 3500, something we cant afford anymore. Why would I pay him to do the work that he could have done for a fraction of the cost?Additionally, its the 30th of January now and he just sent his itemized list yesterday, and still no check. His itemized list includes the line item about rent, Im fine with all the other charges. Do I:1 not respond, and file in small claims court?2 accept the additional rent?3 continue fighting him on it? Maybe mention the he could owe double the deposit if it went to court? would he though?I wasnt there when my wife and he did the walkthrough, so I have no idea what was verbally agreed to. On some level Im leaning twords walking away and taking the hit just so I dont have to deal with him anymore, but then I feel like Im getting ripped off and it bothers me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  <response>: Id cite some CA law and basically tell him he has X days to deliver the remainder of the deposit or he will be dealing with you in small claims court.Next time, get all of these things in writing. 