My former landlord withheld nearly half of my security deposit for carpet damage caused by the cable installation, repair of nail holes and cleaning of the apartment. She did not provide receipts for charges withheld as I suspect she and her husband performed all the work themselves, but she did indicate that she charged a labor rate of $55/hr which I find to be unreasonable. I understand that I am entitled to sue for three times my security deposit in the absence of receipts, but she claims that I have violated my lease because I did not ask her permission to have cable installed, hang pictures on the walls or install an air conditioner, all of which is true. In addition, under 'additional provisions' in our lease I was required to give 60 day notice to renew or terminate the lease but informed her that we were terminating with only 51 days notice.
My question is whether my right to sue her for my security deposit is forfeited since I was in violation of the lease? Could I be charged additional penalties in court for these violations? Also, the lease has an additional provision that the apartment was to be left in the same move-in clean condition as when we moved in. Is this a legal provision and does it give her the right to withhold security deposit for cleaning? Finally, she charged me for what I can only assume to be the replacement of the entire carpet ($370) because of a small hole for cable wire and a tear caused by the installer. Is it legal for her to charge me for the whole carpet to be replaced when she could have patched a small area instead?
Thank you in advance for your help.