I rented an apartment in Hickory, NC for 5-1/2 years and paid my rent always and left the place clean when I left. I received a letter in the mail from the landlord stating that due to my length of time I rented and that I smoked they were going to not refund my deposit due to they had to completely re-paint the unit and have the carpets deep cleaned which I had done less than a month before I vacated. The landlord would have to repaint regardless. Isn't this normal proceedures that a landlord does when a tenent vacates?

Please help. Thank you!

THey normally repaint... but extra cleaning costs incured by smoking would be born by you. And those costs WOULD be excess of what a stardard cleaning would cost. Putting it above the customary cleaning and painting costs the landlord would normally bear.

You might not notice it... but unless its done, few non-smokers could tolerate the stench, making it more difficult to rent to others after you.

The landlord has to give you an itemized accounting of the charges if he doesn't return any part of the deposit. This has to be done within 30 days of vacating.

If you disagree with the costs, you will have to take him to court. You will have to prove that you had already cleaned the carpets and that any smoking smell had been neutralized. Or that the costs of cleaning was less than the amount of the deposit.

North Carolina Security Deposits (http://www.rentlaw.com/dep/ncdeposit.htm)

Actually you can't remove the tars from cigarettes, not from paint nor carpet. You can scrub paint and re-paint, but carpet is hopeless. You may have been told by a carpet cleaning company that they got the smell out, but smokers can't tell. The residue is tougher than any varnish.

I think you might lose a court case. But you still can require proof of the work done and the costs.