Security deposit issue with Landlord

[noname123]

Hello,

I need some advice as I am facing issues with my recent house handover after my Lease expiry.

Background: Last year due to heavy rainfall our balcony got flooded one day and the water seeped through the balcony into the house. We put towels to prevent the water from coming in but a lot of water had come in already and we drained the water immediately. We also notified the LL. Due to this there was some part of the wood that was swollen

Fast forward to handover day:

The Landlord came down and asked us to get the floor replaced. At first we tried to reason with the landlord that the flooding did not happen due to our neglect and we could not have done anything to avoid it. If we had known we would have taken some measures. But the LL did not listen and started threatening that he will call the police. Now at that time we knew the Police does not get into these matters and so we did not react. We also showed him the tenancy agreement where it mentions 2 things:

a. Minor repairs where we will bear 150 and rest should be borne by the LL
b. Any damage due to natural causes or things that are not in control of the tenant should not be attributed to the tenant

But he still would not listen. In the end, we were very tired and we agreed to do an assessment and get it repaired. This was put in the Hanover document and signed by us. The landlord almost after 2 weeks comes back with a quote of 3200$ to replace the damaged wood and polish the floor of the rooms. We asked the Landlord that we will bring our contractor and do an assessment which came out to be 800. Now the Landlord is like okay go ahead and after it's done I will inspect and if I do not approve then we'll get it repaired again at the cost of tenants.

I am just thinking there will be no good end to this. I need advice on a few things:

a. In such cases where it's not our fault, even if we go to the small claims tribunal will the onus be on us to prove it wasn't our fault? if yes then how do we prove it?

b. What is the best course of action here? Should we just give in and let the Landlord deduct 3200 from our deposit. I really do not want someone to take advantage but at the moment I feel helpless

c. As we have signed the handover document taking responsibility to repair it will that work against us in the small claims tribunal?

Thanks in advance for your answers

[PNGMK]

You should never have agreed to pay for it. Your response should have been 'see you at SCT'

You need to rescind in writing your offer to pay ("on review of the TA and further legal advice we note that we are not liable for this repair due to clause xxx and withdraw our offer of compensation") and advise the LL you will seek full refund of the deposit less the 150 fee in the SCT.

Make sure you grab the LL residential or official address so you can serve him.