<human>: Summarize the given text in a few sentences.

My roommates and I rented a place in DC up until January 30 (lease end date). The landlord got back to us 46 days later saying that 1. He is deducting $1255 from our $3000 ($2500 + $500 pet) deposit for painting, cleaning, lightbulb replacement, and pet damage; and 2. The checks are in the mail.

Now, first, in DC its my reading of the law that not only did he take too long to respond to us (and did it via email), but he did not follow correct procedure in his itemization of claims - namely, that he can either itemize the claims for us to respond, or send the full amount of the deposit back to us within that 45 day period. He itemized the claims and basically said, here's your check; have a nice day. 

I'm wondering if our only method of getting the deposit back is to file a small claims suit on the grounds that he did not follow correct procedures, and that the amounts he claimed for the "damages" are excessive, and not warranted because those items are simply general wear and tear. The floors, it should be noted, were acknowledged (have emails to back this up) to be damaged (scratches and delamination) on move in and move-out. We stated explicitly that the floors were damaged, as he knew, and that no change to their condition would be found on our moving out. 

Our only problem is that I only have emails to back up my claims. I don't have any photos of the place, although he said he took video of the place on our moving out. Would we need to prove the condition of the apartment at move-in beyond the emails stating our inspection findings (damaged floors and some other minor issues)? Do we have a case here?
<bot>: landlord says we destroyed apartment, takes half of the security deposit for painting and pet damage which have emails showing there was damage when we moved in. What can I do?