Landlord in NC neglecting to return security deposit

Moved out of a rental unit in the RDU area of NC one month ago. Have been in contact with landlord via his rental management agent since then. It has been 42 days since we moved out and have not received anything - whether mail, in-person, or electronically - from either the landlord or agent since move-out. No itemized lists for deductions from security deposit, no indication of extenuating circumstances preventing that list, no communication of any sort, really.

Today, however, the agent informed us that the landlord has retained legal counsel and that they had to spend $10,000 "getting the house ready for the next tenants" which, to us, seemed worded as a vague threat of damages being levied.

Question at hand is: what, if anything, should we do at this juncture?