My rental contract as a tenant ended, landlord sent her listing agent to check and he left without any objection. Now landlord sent my deposit back minus $200 for totally absurd "cleaning fees" without mentioning or proving anything. How can I get my $200 back?.

What did your lease say, this is not uncommon, many management companies have a nonrefundable cleaning fee on every new resident.

Check your lease. You probably agreed to that when you signed the contract. $200 is not absurd and is normal. Usually carpet cleaning alone is $150-$200 and they need to get ready for a new tenant.

Read your lease, but also check your local law and see if the landlord needs to provide details about what was deducted from the deposit - if so ask for proof of what was done (receipts etc) 

When you left the property, was it in clean, ready to rent condition like it was when you moved in? If not, then that's why the deposit was debited.

Originally posted by @Aaron K. :

What did your lease say, this is not uncommon, many management companies have a nonrefundable cleaning fee on every new resident.

Lease says nothing about cleaning fees  

Originally posted by @Craig Jeppesen :

Check your lease. You probably agreed to that when you signed the contract. $200 is not absurd and is normal. Usually carpet cleaning alone is $150-$200 and they need to get ready for a new tenant.

Lease says nothing about cleaning fees. The ENTIRE place was cleaned by me and my wife before leaving. We don’t have pets or kids.

Originally posted by @John Teachout :

When you left the property, was it in clean, ready to rent condition like it was when you moved in? If not, then that's why the deposit was debited.

When we got the property, oven and balcony were very dirty. We don’t like to bother so we just cleaned and moved on. Before leaving we spent half day properly cleaning kitchen, fridge, bathrooms, bedrooms and living room. Like I said, the person she sent did not have any objection and left. Then I got this surprise by mail: deposit minus $200 and again, lease does not say anything about it.

@Carlos Fernandes most states are tough on security deposits. They have laws to protect tenants like you.  A cleaning fee for normal wear and tear is probably illegal. Many states give triple damages to tenants if the landlord does not handle the deposit correctly.

I would look to see if there are any Pro Bono (free) attorneys or a tenant advocacy group that can help you. 

This is a quote I hear every month, sometimes several times a month:

"It's cleaner than when I moved in!"

The Landlord clearly saw something the leasing agent didn't. Did you pull out appliances? Clean under the stovetop? Wipe out the cabinets? Wash windows and tracks? Dust the baseboards and doors?

Believe it or not, it's actually possible to clean an apartment for an entire day and still miss some things. You also have to remember different folks have different standards. Yours wasn't cleaned to the Landlord's standard so they touched it up and charged you for it.

Your option is to write a letter to them and contest the charges. Include pictures or video to support your claim. If they still refuse to refund anything, then your next step is to take them to court. Court will probably cost you $200 and you'll probably lose if you don't have pictures, video, or other documentation to support your claim.

Lesson: always document the condition before and after occupancy. I take 100 - 300 pictures of every rental before/after, which is why I have hundreds of tenants moving out every year and they never contest the charges or sue me.