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Iowa: Landlord kept some of security deposit for advertising fees, no provision for this in lease or state law

Asked over 2 years ago - Iowa City, IA

30 days before my lease ended, the landlord called me b/c I had not signed a rental agreement for the next year. I asked that they send me a copy, and if the terms met my approval I would sign. 2 wks before my lease expired, I got new lease in mail. I did not like new provisions, including a rent increase, so I told them I would not be renewing. They said I would not receive my deposit because I had not given enough notice. The lease says nothing on notice.

I received a small portion of my deposit back, deducting for cleaning and "sublet fees". After sending a letter disputing this, they refunded some (not all) of the "sublet fee". Nothing in the lease allows for this.

I plan to pursue this in court for acting in bad faith and remainder of "sublet fee". Can/should I cash the checks?

Additional information
One check, the first one sent after deducting for cleaning and "sublet fees" says on memo:
"final clean $XXX.XX Advert $XXX.XX"\

The second check, the one sent after I requested a full refund from the landlord, says the following on the memo:
"sub let fee"

I also want to dispute the cleaning charges in court. They initially did not provide me with an explanation of what cleaning they performed. After I sent a letter requesting it, they sent me a very basic breakdown as follows:

"Final oven clean and windows $XX.XX
Carpet clean $XXX.XX + tax $X.XX
Other: replaced two broken blinds $XX.XX labor $XX.XX material"

They did not provide any receipts, photographic evidence of the need, etc. They claim in their letter sent with the breakdown that "The proof that the cleaning was needed is that the landlord performed it".

The lease did not require a professional carpet clean be performed.

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