Until recently, I was a tenant in the same apartment for about 10 years. The multifamily house was sold/bought about five years ago. After the sale, the 2nd owner did give me written confirmation that he had my security deposit, however he did not create or provide to me for signature any statement of condition that lists any existing defects in the apartment.
There was a statement of condition generated from the 1st owner/landlord, but I cannot find it. The 2nd owner probably has a home inspection report from five years ago, but the home inspector did not move any furniture, wall hangings, etc. and therefore could not get a complete picture of existing damage.

After recently moving out of the current landlord kept my full security deposit to pay for replacing carpeting for what I consider to be normal wear-and-tear and/or existing damages. There seems to be a few arguments to support my claim that this is charge is not legal, but before listing them, some general questions I have are: can the landlord deduct any $ for damages that existed before he bought the property and what evidence must the landlord produce in court to prove the damages were the tenants fault?

These are the two arguments I have for the return of my deposit, do they make legal sense?

1) The carpet is at least 10 years old (was not replaced during my tenancy) and was already worn when I moved in so it may be more than 15 years old therefore the depreciated value is nearly zero.

2) The damages existed before my original tenancy or before the landlord acquired the property (the landlord doesn't have any evidence to dispute either of these statements, except possibly the home inspection report generated when he bought the house).
-Thanks