Landlord wont give security deposit back!!!!?

We leased an apartment in alabama while my hubby was working there. We did our research on apartments and found one we wanted to live in. We made an appointment and went to look at the apartments with the property manager. We went to the apartment we would be leasing and she couldn't get the door open because the dead bolt was jammed and had to be replaced. The maintenance guy came out to replace the lock the next day. There were two ladies in our apartment cleaning and painting for 2 days, the day after we signed our lease. My husband and I stopped by both days it took to get the apartment ready for us to move in to check on the property to fit our move in requirements. We befriended the ladies cleaning and painting since they were our age. There was NO property condition report for our apartment. Upon move out we cleaned our apartment top to bottom (verbal agreement for LL). The land lord inspected our apartment that night and told the cleaning crew that the apartment was immaculate and no cleaning or repairs were to be made. I never received a letter regarding my deposit 35 days (state law) after we vacated the property and had to call and request one. The letter states that we have to pay for Cleaning and Carpet Cleaning even though the apartment was cleaned upon verbal agreement when we left. She says the ceiling fans and bath tub needed cleaning. She says it is in our lease that the carpets must be cleaned when we vacate, however our carpets were not cleaned when we moved in. She says she has a receipt for the cleaned carpets before we moved in but has failed to present it to me to date. There is NO possible way the carpets were cleaned in the two days the apartment was being prepared because I was there both days!!!! The dead bolt was broken and no one had a way to enter the property. Thats why it took 2 extra days for the apartment to be cleaned. She's fibbing to my face! Legally she has 35 days to present me with a notice of inspection, and my refunded deposit and has failed to do so. What should I do so I don't get scammed out of my $500 deposit? I have 4 witnesses (the cleaning crew) that will vouch that the condition of the apartment was indeed immaculate after we left. The land lord is changing all of our verbal agreements and saying that she never said any of it! We thought we could trust her because she was referred as a great and lord. What now? Thanks so much for all your help. (There were no pictures taken before or after by the LL or by us. Our cleaning friend would know of any pictures taken and it's a negative.)