Being taken to court by tenant who moved out

[Todd Schmitz]

I am being taken to small claims court by a former tenant. Court date is in September. Any help and guidance would be greatly appreciated. I have pictures from before he moved in and when he moved out. I also provided him a three page letter detailing costs associated with repairs and things. I documented every day and hour I spent cleaning and making repairs. I also have every receipt for supplies I purchased. I currently own six rentals in Aurora/Denver Colorado area and this is the first time I will have to go to court. Thanks

[Todd Schmitz]

Update. Went to mandatory mediation and knew my odds were probably better there than in court.

Tenant of course tried to state that some of my pictures were not even of the unit. Haha. Of course I have them geotagged in my phone.

I Ended up getting $445 of his $975 deposit after $30 mandatory mediation fee. Didn't pay for my time to clean the place but I am going to chalk that up to experience and learning.

By the way Colorado law states you have 31 days to return someone's deposit or providing accounting for it unless specified in the lease agreement for no more than 60 days which is what my lease agreements state.

Thanks everyone for your insight and assistance.

Todd