Landlord wants to go to court. HELP ASAP!!

I am a recent college graduate. Myself and two roommates occupied a three bedroom house for 9 months. Our lease was from Sept. 07 - May 08. The monthly rent was $500 and there was a necessary $750 security deposit put down for each of us, so $2250 in total. Recently we called to get our security deposit back but the landlord has refused. He even has threatened to take us to court over this matter.

The landlord is falsely claiming that:

1. the house was dirty.
2. there was bulk trash left at the curb that the township could fine for
3. there were window air condition units left in the house

as for these claims they are not as they seem. For one, the house was not dirty at all. In fact, it was cleaner when we moved out than it was when we moved in. We had the rugs professionally cleaned. The cleaning service even stated that some of the rugs hadn't been cleaned in 10-15 years. Along with that, myself along with 3 eyewitnesses were there to help me clean. The first was my mother, the second was my grandfather, and the third was a friend who has was also a former cleaning lady. All four of us cleaned the house for 2-3 hours. They are willing to testify that the house was in perfect condition.

Secondly, the bulk trash. The trash was a couch and love seat that was worn down, along with a desk and a few other odds and ends. The township explains that bulk trash pick up is done on Wednesday's. We put the stuff to the curb on May 28th, which was the last Wed. in May. However, the township never picked it up so we called them. They stated that they do not do pickups on the Wed. after a holiday (Memorial Day). Therefore, when we moved out on Sat. the 31st the trash was still at the curb as we believed they would come by the following Wed. (June 4th) to collect the trash. In my opinion the landlords problem is with the township and not us tenants.

Lastly, there were several window air conditioners left in the house but we only had them for one reason. The landlord refused to have the air/heat fixed. While we called numerous times, the landlord did send people out to look at both the air/heat, however it was never fixed to proper working conditions. The air would blow out room temp. air and the heat would only work on full blast causing the house to raise to 95 degrees. Therefore, we purchased air conditioners to help cool the house down. I don't understand how this warrants any kind of financial holdings from us.

Please help with any advice. I am more than willing to go to court with this landlord in order to get my $750 back. I feel like he has no case. Has anyone come across any similar problems??

Any information about the law in New Jersey would help greatly. Thanks in advance.

Didn't I just read this post???

Your witnesses are all friends and relatives. They may or may not be believed in court. (What mother wouldn't lie for her son? Not saying yours is, but that is what a judge would think.) You'd be better off with the impartial witnesses that I mentioned in your other post - those people would have no motivation to lie. Get proof of the condition you left the unit, get your receipts together to prove you cleaned, or ask for receipts from the LL to prove in court that the LL needed to do the cleaning. He shouldn't be able to produce them for the court if no cleaning was needed.

The bulk trash items are your problem, not the townships. You are responsible to see that these items are removed before you vacate and return possession. You just assumed that someone else, the township, would take care of this for you. They didn't. It was your responsibility, not the LL's or the township's. Sorry but this one is one you. You have to pay any fine or costs associated with this. You should have placed these to the curb earlier (a week before the holiday) or called to ensure that they would be picked up. Bulk pickup, recycling, and yard waste are often skipped the week after a holiday by municipal trash companies so they can stay on schedule. Some municipal trash departments even change pickup dates after every holiday (Tuesdays before the holiday, Wednesdays after this one, Thursdays after the next.) If you weren't sure, you should have called to ask. You dropped the ball on this obligation. You have to pay the fine and costs.

If you had a problem with the A/C or heat, there were procedures to get them fixed properly. (You should have asked us about these earlier and we could have saved you the costs of the A/C units.) Since you purchased these yourself, you needed to remove these from the property. You left them (personal belongings) in the house and the LL had to have them removed. He cannot just dump them in the trash since they contain either freon or another cooling gas (depending on the age of the A/C unit). Trash companies are prohibitted from dumping these (along with fridges). They have to be taken to a facility to remove the gasses from them before disposal. If you live in an area that charges for this service (NJ probably is one), you are responsible for the cost since he cannot get rid of them without removing any gasses from them. (Have you checked out the cost for this service?) You are also responsible for any dumping costs associated with their disposal, since they cannot just go into the municipal trash. (How much does it cost in your area to dump large items such as these?) Again, you brought these things into the property and are responsible for any costs associated with removing them from the property. This is a legal deduction. You should not leave anything in the house without the permission of the owner to do so. You need to take all your belongings with you or pay to have them removed. The next tenants do not want your things.