I have vacated my rental and have not received my security deposit nor had any other communication from the landlord; can I sue?

Hello. I am a Maryland barred attorney and have handled similar cases.  In this state, as noted the applicable law allows for not only up to triple damages, but also attorney fees.   I am commenting only because it is not clear to me from your fact scenario at what point in the year lease you were.  Did you give notice 3.5 weeks before the year was up or 3.5 weeks before you left mid-year?   This matters because of the notice required and the claims the Landlord may have against any security deposit.  You may have had no need to give notice at the year end termination, but notice required for vacating otherwise.   It may make sense to have an attorney look at the lease agreement and review the specific facts involved sooner rather than later.

You certainly would seem to have grounds to sue. While there are of course reasons for which a landlord may legally keep some or all of a deposit (repairing damage; offset vs. unpaid rent), those require proper communication, notice, and documentation from the landlord, and they can only keep that amount provably necessary to pay for one of the allowed expenses. They may not simply hold onto the money without comment.

Therefore, it seems as if you could initiate a lawsuit to recover your deposit.

As for the inspection, you have the right to be present at an inspection of your home, but you have to notify the landlord of the date you are moving out and your new mailing address.  You must send this notice to the landlord by certified mail at least 15 days before you move out.  If you send this notice to the landlord, the landlord must notify you by certified mail of the time and date of the final inspection.  The inspection must be within 5 days before or 5 days after your move out date.

Since your landlord failed to inspect the premises as you seem to have lawfully requested, they will not be hard pressed to prove any claim of damages to the apartment.

As for your security deposit, within 45 days after you move out, your landlord must return your security deposit minus the costs of any damages.  Your landlord can keep the security deposit, or part of it, for unpaid rent or for the costs of repairing damages caused by you or your family, employees or guests.  Ordinary wear and tear is not "damage."  If the security deposit is $50 or more and you lived in the property for more than 6 months, your landlord must pay you interest on the security deposit.  If the landlord does not return the security deposit plus interest within 45 days, you can sue the landlord for three times the amount wrongly kept by the landlord and your attorney's fees.  If your landlord keeps any part of the security deposit, your landlord must send you a written list of the damages within 45 days after you move out.  The notice from the landlord must include a list of how much the landlord actually spent to repair the damage to the property. Your landlord may not keep any part of your security deposit for damages unless your landlord notified you of the charges and actually made the repairs. 

Assuming that it has been 45 days, then you are free to take your landlord to small claims court.