Wall to Wall Carpet Damaged, Tenant Suing for Security Deposit

[willowcreeknancy]

My question involves a security deposit in the State of: NYS
My ex-tenant is taking me to small claims court for the return of her security deposit ($750). She was on a month to month lease. 1st, she took possession of the unit on the 28th of May, & told me Nov. 3 she was leaving. I believe this means I am entitled to rent until December 3.

2nd (and worse), there's an issue about the carpet. The living room/dining room is a single large area covered by wall to wall carpet. The tenant dropped some weird white stuff near the door. There is a line of white drops that string out for 8-10 inches.

I had the carpet cleaned, but the white stuff did not come out. The spots are visible throughout the whole space, and it's not as if you can stick a piece of furniture over them to hide them -- they're too far from the wall. I looked into getting a pc of linoleum put into the entry way, but it would look too weird (very hacked up), and I can't match the dye lot of the carpet. I spoke w/ 3 carpet stores in the area in a vain hope they could come up with something that matched.

To remove the old carpet, get a new pad, & have new carpet installed will cost approx $1300. (removal of old carpet $155, new carpet around $850, installation $100).

There's more stuff about some damaged trim, the fact she left wading pools which turned into skating rinks because of the cold weather we've had here, as well as couple of load of recyclables & stuff that had to get hauled away. Calculate another $150 for time & materials on that.

An added twist is that the unit is sold (closing sometime around Jan 1).

Can I keep the deposit? She's been a squeaky wheel the entire time she was there, and it's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil!

PS - I took pix of the carpet & the trim damage, and have witnesses about the amount of stuff she left behind. They're willing to testify if need be

[gioua]

just from what I have read on my end of carpet issues..

How old is the carpet?
there is a deprecation on carpet based on how long they have lived there..
I personally would nto think it's fair if the carpet was 20 years old and your wanting brand new carpeting..

[willowcreeknancy]

Carpet purchased & installed in 2004, so it's not terribly old! I think I have to work w/ depreciated value of the carpet, or base the value on its remaining life.

B/w the tenant's failure to fill up the fuel tank ($100+ to fill), cleaning hauling ($150 + transfer station fees), & trim work + painting nearby area ($75), $150 in rent due to improper notice, I'm up around $475 in expenses/costs already.