Seeking advice on refund of HDB security deposit from Landlord.

**** lengthy post ****

We have been staying in a 4room HDB flat in Yishun which was yearly contract started from 2020. (Renewed on a yearly basis as there was no hassle with the landlord). Recently we decided to move out from the unit and to our surprise landlord had claimed a lot of expenses alleging various damages to the unit. Rental and security deposit was 3.1k and we stayed at the unit for 10 extra days with the landlord's permission.

We did a basic cleaning in the unit and handed over the unit just like we got the unit in 2020. After few days we started to receive messages in our tenant-agent whatsapp group regarding the condition of the unit mentioning each thing.

Landlord message as follows:

Painting - $300 (Apportioned for common areas only - paint and service. Whole house was $1600.)

TV - $200

Bidet - $180 (supply and install for kitchen toilet. Broken holder for master toilet was also replaced)

Full Deep Cleaning - $960 (2 helpers x 8 hours x $15/hr x 4 days. When we started, we didn't expect the house will require this much cleaning. Else, I'd have just hired a company on a package. It was too late to switch after. For fairness, I'll freeze this cost at $550 which is the minimum fee of what a cleaning company would have charged.)

Gas tank for kitchen - $35

10 days rent - $1000

Electricity Bill - $128.04

$3100 - $2393 = $707

Finally, for the Cockroach matter, cockroach issues are rampant in old HDB flats. The way to reduce the issue IS to a) maintain cleanliness in the house and b) a simple solution of laying cockroach traps. This as you know is what the rest of us do in Singaporean homes. It's a matter of principle to return a flat in a deep cleaned and hygienic condition even without that being explicitly stated in the contract - and not expect the landlord to leave his/her work and take leave and clean up such a huge mess at these costs. For my previous tenants who even had children, it took just one full day of cleaning and minor paint touch up. Hope they understand that.

For the paint, we didn't cause any damages as most of the furniture was kept near the wall. In fact the unit was not newly painted when it was handed over to us in 2020, there were stains and marking when it was handed over. It was evidently shown in landlords video itself, as there was stains and marking during the handover. No receipt given !!!

Tv- we asked landlord to take it back as we don't use TV coz we had lap/pc for everyone and couple of extra monitors for work also. No receipt, no explanation given !!!

Bidet - We are ready to pay as it was damaged due to us. No receipt given !!!

Deep cleaning- While handing over to us there was no deep cleaning done. We can understand it from the landlords handover video from 2020 as there was lot of dirt on the kitchen tiles. Contract doesn't state that the unit must be deep cleaned before return. We did a basic cleaning ( landlord sent us some pictures showing some dust while sweeping, mostly under from the bed, we didn't move beds while we did the cleaning (our mistake). $550 is absolutely too much for some sweeping. No receipt given !!!

Gas tank for kitchen - $35, 10 days rent - $1000. Both ready to pay.

Electricity Bill - $128.04 --- No receipt given !!!

Cockroach matter- bin chute doors are faulty, it doesn't close properly and on each renewal time we asked the landlord to fix it. Never ever in the 4 years didn't take any action to fix. During bin chute fumigation, smokes will be coming inside kitchen as well. We have weekly cleaning schedule to be done by everyone in the unit and kept it clean as we can.

After one and half month landlord sent $707 as refund to deposit after a lot messaging and told landlord like this will be the last time we will be asking for refund of deposit.

What are the options I have for getting back the remaining deposit. We are open to deal it fair and square. But landlord didn't respond to any of the messages.