We moved out of an apt. Complex this year and are being sued for an excessive amount in cleaning fees. We do not feel that we owe as much as they are asking and we also want to counter sue because they caused our move-out to be much harder than it should have been. Our scheduled move-out was on a Saturday, but because of unforeseen problems we were still there on Monday trying to complete our move-out. On Monday, because 2 new tenants were moving in, they denied us access to both elevators and they only have 2! We had to go up and down 4 flights of stairs to continue carrying out boxes and items from the apt. We are an older couple with health problems and this was very hard on us, especially after working on this move-out all weekend. I am on disability for physical problems. Since we were moving out of state, I spent 16 hrs. Riding and driving in a car after this in horrible pain from going up and down those stairs. It took almost a week for all the pain to subside. Could they legally refuse us access to the elevators? Can we sue for punitive damages, due to pain and suffering from having to use the stairs? It was partially their faults that we were still there on Monday. One of the elevators was supposed to be reserved for our use only on Sat. but tenants continued using it anyway and management did not stop them from doing so. Someone else was trying to move in while we were trying to move out and this is supposed to be against the Apts. Rules. They were getting in our way and causing us even more delays. The trash bins were already overflowing on Sat. From all the previous move outs that week and we had no place to throw away our trash or the items that would not fit in the truck. This made it almost impossible to clean the apartment efficiently, so we cleaned some areas and had to leave the rest, which wasn't that dirty! We also have to pay a relative who came out later that week to remove the rest of the items and the trash when their trash bins were empty. Can we sue for the amount that we have to pay our relative? Thank you for your help.

Pain and suffering rarely are considered in small claims, but you can try. Small claims is for specific damages of specific cost.
List each complaint as your defense against their suit, and itemize each COST for your countersuit. For defense, keep details about your age and disability short and emphasize the rules that were broken. Have a copy of the written rules. Try to get affidavits from people. Cases like this can go either way. Were you sent a form to reply to so that you can possibly settle by mail without having to go back?

Some of this sounds like poor planning on your part, having had all month to dispose of trash each day, and for not having bags or boxes to leave trash outside of the bins as is customary when they are full. Also, what about Sunday? And why no helpers on Saturday? When I had to move in situations like this, I moved to the hallway next to the elevator and then into it in one efficient swoop, as many times as needed, but each trip was fast.

You can certainly defend yourself if the cleaning fees were excessive.

I'm in NY - you CANNOT collect pain and suffering in NY on a contract matter. A lease or rental agreement is a contract.

NOW - if you needed medical treatment or were injured as a result of the problems when you moved and can prove it... you can sue for those expenses.