Landlords in Malta: WARNING

Well I am sorry that it’s come to this but I feel everyone should be warned.We recently vacated our flat, the landlady was useless (put zero effort into the place and didn’t understand bills) but generally quite nice. She always said we are good people, her favorite ever tenants but now this all seems to have changed.We left the flat cleaner and in better condition than when we moved in.1.       I scrubbed the white walls and got quite a few dark marks off.2.       The kettle didn’t work when we moved in so we bought our own and left it for her when we moved out.3.       There was no bedding in the spare room and we bought a duvet and pillows, which we left when we moved out.4.       There were plug sockets hanging off the walls and we screwed them back on.5.       Bath was blocked when we moved in and we fixed this.But now shes refusing to give us our deposit back. Her reasons are as follows.1.       Pots and pans are burnt- correct, but we had our own and used only our own. Whatever state they are in, is the state they were when we moved in.2.       Cracks in kitchen surface from not using a chopping board- incorrect. I always chop on a board why wouldn’t I? Any small scratches are general wear and tear anyway and I KNOW there were no big cracks3.       Glue stuck to cupboards from Christmas decorations- incorrect. We put a few plastic snowflakes up with bluetak. You can peel that stuff off. She came over on Monday an hour before we moved out and didn’t mention this. We deliberately washed the cupboard doors down as they can often look a bit grubby and left them spotless.4.       TV screen is misty when turned off- no idea. I only ever dust tv screens with a dry cloth, just to take the dust off, I never really clean them with any product purely because I don’t know what is safe to use. Even so, if its misty when OFF what is the problem? We were watching a film Monday when she popped over and she even stood and watched it with us and made NO complaint.5.       Dust behind the furniture- correct. I only cleaned behind the sofa etc about once a month as it’s so hard to get everything out. So yes, it may have been a little dusty but NO reason to keep a whole deposit, although we cleaned the flat well before we moved out I’d happily give her some money towards the cleaner for those few bits.6.       Never cleaned the kitchen in six months- incorrect. I’m sorry, are you MENTAL? I am not an animal! She came round and IN the flat every month to grab the rent, she even visited Monday night before we moved out… wouldn’t she have said something if the kitchen was in that much of a state? We also had numerous people come round and view the place. I am sure someone would have mentioned something if it hadn’t been cleaned for six months.Like I say, she’s always been useless as a landlord and we know she has money issues. She mentioned one month that she couldn’t even afford her own mortgage until our rent day! This is what is so frustrating. I’ve told her that we will fight it, and explained all the points to her, as I did above but she’s got her heart set on keeping our money.Will be contacting the estate agent and legal aid so depending on how this turns out I will be naming her shortly so everyone else can be sure to be very wary and NEVER enter into a lease on any of her properties.