Getting Sued In Small Claims Court

Hi all.

Trying to make a long story short. My husband and I were served with civil papers yesterday. We rented my husbands old house to people we considered friends (our first mistake) late last year. We verbally agreed they could use the shop on the property for no additional charge once the roof of the shop was repaired (and we gave them $200 per month off for the length of the lease because the shop was not useable at lease signing/move-in).

Fast forward 2 weeks and they’re pissed the shop isn’t ready yet. This essentially culminates to them requesting to break lease a month and a half after moving in. We agreed to this. They moved out without issue but left minor damages to the property. We saved receipts and provided an itemized list with the remainder of their security deposit.

We were served yesterday and they are suing us for the remainder of their security deposit plus they want us to pay their moving and storage unit fees because they didn’t have access to the shop.

I’ve contacted multiple lawyers for advice but none have been able to help much, mostly due to the small amount ($3000) and/or they don’t do small claims cases.

I’m stressed and losing sleep over this. Are we totally screwed or are they being completely unreasonable? The kicker is since we were friends and I’m a dumbass the lease didn’t specify the shop but it didn’t specifically exclude it. I’m sure they will argue that we misled them.

Location: Wyoming, USA