I was moving out of an apartment. The landlord owned a few units nearby. He wanted to withhold my security deposit (maybe $1,000?) even though I left the place perfectly fine, as per lease agreement.

I asked for my deposit back and his reason for withholding it.

He said his other tenants had trashed their apartment with smoking and pets ruining the rugs. So he needed the money to repair that other apartment. I said something like, “Not my problem.”

He gave me my deposit back and said I should be a diplomat. By which he meant litigator. I was far from diplomatic.