Apologies as I know a similar question was just asked, but we live in Utah so I don't know how the tenant laws compare.

We moved into a new apartment in Utah (first tenants) and lived there for 2 years. 33 days after we moved out, we were wondering why we hadn't gotten any info about our deposit. Then that day we get an email stating that our deposit was being withheld and we were being charged extra. We left the apartment in good condition, bought their specified paint and touched up the walls where needed, and cleaned everything as thoroughly as we could (unfortunately did not take any photos though - kicking ourselves for that now). The only real issue is the carpet - there was a 1-2 inch hole on the stairs caused by a cat, and some areas smelled faintly of urine. However, we were told specifically in our move out packet not to clean the carpet as $250 of our original $1345 deposit was a non-refundable carpet cleaning fee.

So after getting the email I asked for an itemized list of the repairs that needed to be made. They forwarded invoices from a cleaning company ($400), repair company ($1000), and replacing the carpet in the entire apartment ($2700). Bill was discounted to only $3250 total... great. They also included about 100 photos from their inspection, most showing barely visible scuffs on the walls that we missed, and some urine stains on the carpet which only show up under an ultraviolet light.

They gave us 7 days to pay, threatening to send the bill to collections with a 40% collections fee attorney's fees.

That was 5 days ago now, and we're trying to assess our options. Tried reaching out to local attorneys for advice but most haven't responded or have been too busy. My father recommended going to small claims court over this, saying we should first send them a letter through certified mail stating our intent to sue to get our deposit back. He predicted that they will countersue, and then the judge will probably just say that we'll lose our deposit but drop the charges.

So my main questions are:

1. I think Utah law requires the deposit to be returned within 30 days, so since it was 33 days when they sent the bill, does that make it void?
2. Are there any kind of legal limits on what kind of things a landlord can charge to a tenant after move out? Seriously, there was no need to replace every scrap of carpet over some stains (which we were forbidden from cleaning), and one tear. And I have no idea how $1000 of repairs was needed (invoice mentions $150 to fix a tear in the linoleum flooring, which I'm fine with)
3. Is going to small claims court the best way forward?

And of course any other general advice would be appreciated. Sorry this is a bit long, I tried to summarize as much as I could.