deposit at risk (no contract)

[mdelgadov]

I rented a studio a year ago for 850 a month. The LL never gave me a real contract. I signed a letter (that is not signed by him) where it says I should stay for a year or lose my deposit.

He is also retaining 300 dlls from my deposit (out of 1300 total) for repairs.

He has been somewhat tricky. He told me he would take 30 dlls. from the deposit during summer for extra air conditioning and at the end he said he didn't. Then asked me to give the checks to a different name (I did not). My lease should have been finished by May 26, but he said that I was supposed to stay until June 30 (I honored, but didn't agree). He also has the Cable TV fixed (discovered accidentaly).

The last straw was that I tried to give him a written notification of leaving the apartment and he didn't accept it. All these tell me he is not a trustworthy LL and I’m not sure I should expect a fair termination.

Now, I want to make sure that he won't keep the deposit. What can I do to ensure he will return the money?

Please Help