Security Deposit

[JS422]

We are suing our landlords in small claims court (Sullivan County) for failure to return our security deposit or giving us any indication (receipts, estimates, a list of damages) of what they used it for. This happened in July. They actually informed us that we had to vacate early because they wanted to sell the house, and gave us about 4 days notice. Since it was our last month anyway (although we were still entitled to stay until the end of the month -- 1 week later), we moved out and into our new home, which was not yet completed since we moved in early (we have a letter from the builder saying this). We filed suit in August or September, as they just told us they would not return our security deposit and for no valid reason. They have gottn an attorney who is a part time magistrate as well, and since this is a conflict of interest (our "judge" is a magistrate as well), their lawyer has to contract another one for the suit. They have gotten this case adjourned each month since this started. They have also filed a countersuit and ammended it several times for more and more money. My questions are several I guess -- are we entitled to treble damages for failure to return the security deposit? If this magistrate is indeed overseeing this case even though it is a conflict of interest, do we have any recourse? Is there any limit to the amount of time (and excuses) to have a case adjourned? They adjourned the case again 1 day before court because the lawyer who was overseeing the case left the firm. One day before court they advised of this. We left this house in better condition than we found it (professionally cleaned, etc), and they are really just being greedy. Thank you for your help.