Final inspection occurring after new tenants move in? (Virginia)

I just moved out of my townhouse at the end of July. We left on July 25th, and arranged for an inspection of the premises on July 30th, which the landlord agreed to. She walked through and noted some things, and told us if we could fix them by the time our lease expired we'd be fine. Those things were the basement carpet (which we shampooed and had a receipt for), one chipped paint spot on the basement wall about 1/2" by 1", marks in the master bedroom closet, and various light bulbs which needed replacement. I took care of all items except the carpet, which had our walkway from the door to the stairs still dirty (we waited too long to initiate a no shoes policy).

We were then told it was a courtesy and that usually she gives the new tenants 1 week to notify her of issues and she uses that for her security deposit return. When we questioned the validity of that against the lease, she claimed she never said that and that "since it was 8PM I didn't have time to check everything." (She made arrangements for 6PM, then emailed me at 4PM to change to 7:30PM, then STILL showed up late at 8PM). She then said she would notify us of the "final" inspection per this line in the lease:

"Landlord shall notify the Tenant of the date and time of the inspection which will take place within 72 hours of Tenant's departure""

Now I read that to mean the inspection should occur with 72 hours, not the notifcation.

Anyway, she notifed us on August 3rd of the inspection to take place on Aug 7th, which I was unable to make as I had planned for this whole thing to be wrapped up already. The reason for that is our lease ended on July 31st and new tenants had already moved in on August 1st.

Today I received a list of her findings, with things such as fecal matter in toilets, toilets clogged, nicks in walls, faucets spray water, discolored paint on front door lock, hair in shower, etc. None of the items she noted on the prior "inspection" showed up aside from the carpet, so I know I did those satisfactorily. The vast majority of these items, in my opinion, are obviously from the new tenants moving in. I mean, they aren't going to just not go to the bathroom for a full week. Every toilet had an "issue." She listed nicks on the walls in nearly every room of the place. In all honestly, I feel like we're almost being singled out for questioning her methods, as we know she didn't stop by for a final inspection for the prior tenant when we moved in, and thus its not like we had advance notice that this was how she did things anyway.

Do I have a grounds to initiate going to small claims court without a specific number regarding how much of my security deposit is being returned? The majority of this process has seemed bogus.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give me.

A LL in VA has 45 days to do an inspection(s) and return an itemized list of damages to you. You don't have to be there for the inspection and most LLs do it without the tenant. You have received that list within the stated time. You must now write a challenge letter to the LL challenging each item in dispute. Tell why you either do not owe anything for the item, or explain why you don't owe that amount for the item. If your challenge is because the new tenants may have caused the damage upon moving in, state that. Send this letter to the LL by certified mail, return receipt requested. Keep a copy of the letter and the postcard that comes back. See what you can negotiate this way. If this goes no where, you will have to sue in small claims court.

Great advice and comment! I face the same dog-gone mess in California.