I have a friend who is into labour supply industry. So renting houses is a common thing for him. He told me out of 10 houses he rented, 9 deposits are usually forfeited simply because he was unable to restore the place to its original condition (as close as it can be).

Once he tried his luck when the landlord asked him to repaint the house. He had RM1600 deposit with landlord then. He got some painter to do the job and the total cost came to RM1600 (coincidentally). Landlord did return the RM1600 deposit but he got himself into a bit of mess and time wasted having need to repaint the house.

I guess restoration cost can differ quite a fair bit unlike what we have in mind. If landlord willing to forfeit deposit in place of restoration cost and if deposit amount is not that substantial, perhaps it will be a better idea to close the case and move on.