Their claim is that they received nothing, no notice whatsoever. I would infer that they were indeed unaware I was leaving, based on the fact that I heard nothing from them until a full month after I left. Apparently it took them that long to decide to enter the apartment.

(I have to infer because neither the property manager nor the collections agency has been willing to engage in written dialogue with me. Perhaps an indication that they're aware of the dubious nature of their claim?)

The signature on the post-it was actually a printed signature -- quite legible. I don't believe I'd actually make this part of my argument, because I strongly believe that the "it fell of" assertion is bolgna. I'll bring a check and post-it into court to illustrate how much jostling it can take without falling off.

The extra two months charge is based on a clause that says any improper termination of the lease will result in a "lease termination fee" equal to two months' rent. So that's legit, however I will have to do some research to determine how quickly they rented the apartment. I believe the property manager has an obligation to mitigate his losses.

It would appear that this will simply boil down to the kind of judge I get (liberal or conservative) and my appearance of credibility (which I have plenty of confidence in). I say I gave them notice in a perfectly reasonable way, they say they didn't get it. How will the judge treat the "on a form supplied by management" clause? I think it's bogus, but will the judge agree?