Advice for suing a landlord in small claims court?

[stanciyf]

I need some advice on the process of suing an ex-landlord in small claims court. She held our entire deposit trying to claim damages for nit-picky little things like light bulbs, shelf paper, and slightly shorter curtains, and refused us any opportunity to mitigate damages. She also deducted for carpet cleaning even though it wasn't in the lease and AZ LT law requires it to be. She never sent an itemized list of damages required by AZ, which allows us to sue for triple damages (though we're told it almost never is awarded). We have been advised to reduce the claim to the $2500 small claims court limit to make it so she can't have her lawyer present. Tomorrow we're going to file, but we don't know what we need to bring and the web site doesn't say. Should we bring all of our photos and evidence? Also, we're suing 11 months after the "damage" due to my mother's death, should I bring proof of death to show why we waited to file? Should we be well versed in what our side of the story is tomorrow? Anything that will increase our chances of getting triple damages? Someone told us we would need to prove we were somehow harmed by her withholding our deposit... we were buying a house, could we say it set us back buying a house? It also caused stressed as my mother was dying. Or is there a better excuse to increase the chances? We're just so unsure and nervous and we don't know if we're doing the right thing. We are afraid that even though we were excellent tenants she'll win in AZ court which is rumored to be landlord-favored and we'll have to pay her damages such as lawyer fees. ADVICE PLEASE!

[wynn]

Don't go in with a stress claim, that just puts a haze on the whole thing. Not sure where you heard it, but lawyers can appear in small claims court. You should file decent photocopies of your pics with the complaint. Make sure you have the originals for court.

I would sue for all you're entitled to that keeps it under small claims amount.

Be sure to have the laws in front of you at court to refer to.

Remember even if you win, it's just a judgment. Then you have to try and collect!