This is kind of a long story...

We just move out of our last apartment, and into a new one. We got a letter from the old place stating we owed them money. We paid a $300 half refundable pet deposit upon move in, they claim we never paid them the $190 required to hold the apartment, therefore we weren't getting our $150 deposit back and we owed them. We paid the $190 by money order from our bank, so we got a copy of that. But during the discussion with the assistant manager he pulled out a paper that was part of the lease (I'm thinking) basically the move-in sheet stating that we had signed it. It showed what we had already paid (showing the $190 was received) and what was owed. Well the signatures at the bottom were not at all our signatures. My husbands name (Keith) looked like R & some scribbles. The S in my name clearly matched the S of the then assistant manager whom we were informed no longer works for the company. We were fine with figuring everything out & getting the copy of the money order, until we saw that. Kind of set us off. So I would like to know if we have any grounds to fight them in court for anything. Is the lease even valid? It wasn't part of the actual 15-some page lease agreement, but it is a legal document they had in our file, that we did not sign.

Thanks in advance for any replies!!

We just move out of our last apartment, and into a new one. We got a letter from the old place stating we owed them money. We paid a $300 half refundable pet deposit upon move in, they claim we never paid them the $190 required to hold the apartment, therefore we weren't getting our $150 deposit back and we owed them.
Do you have EVERYTHING documented? I really don't expect you to have "everything", but the more the better.

We paid the $190 by money order from our bank, so we got a copy of that. But during the discussion with the assistant manager he pulled out a paper that was part of the lease (I'm thinking) basically the move-in sheet stating that we had signed it. It showed what we had already paid (showing the $190 was received) and what was owed. Well the signatures at the bottom were not at all our signatures.
Great! Huge plus in your favor. As for the lease, do you have a copy for yourself? Do you have a copy of everything you signed?

Something to consider is you can contact an investigator with the local law enforcement. Do a report on suspected forgery, and provide copies of everything in question.

That is no promise they will do much if anything, but you have it on report.

My husbands name (Keith) looked like R & some scribbles. The S in my name clearly matched the S of the then assistant manager whom we were informed no longer works for the company.
Some landlords will have qa clause covering disputes and the use of mediators. Is there anything like that in your lease?

We were fine with figuring everything out & getting the copy of the money order, until we saw that. Kind of set us off.
That's understandable. I would be a bit ticked myself.

So I would like to know if we have any grounds to fight them in court for anything.
If you do not have a copy of the signed agreement and nothing in the lease covers it, yes I think you do.

But before you do this make sure you dispute this to the landlord/rental agency in writing first.

Is the lease even valid? It wasn't part of the actual 15-some page lease agreement, but it is a legal document they had in our file, that we did not sign.
The lease itself? I don't know. A lot of this I don't know, and I know that in Colorado lawyers that will work on behalf of the renter are non-existent. But you can go to the county courthouse and ask the court clerk where you can get free legal aid. All counties in Colorado have that option, and they can help you far more than I can.