Bren- In Illinois you must supply an itemized stament of damages AND paid receipts within 30 days of the tenant moving out. Not only could you be liable for two times the originally security deposit amount, but for court costs and attorney's fees as well. The fact that she's requesting receipts makes me think she knows this law. At this point if I were you I'd return her deposit and call it lesson learned.

I rented my house out for one year to a tenant. While she was in the house we put the house up for sale in the last months (she knew when we rented to her that this would happen). She signed a lease that said she would maintain the property, keep it clean, take care of the yard, etc. When we finally sold the house, I went in to check it out before the final walk-thru. The backyard had only been mowed once in the year that she lived there, there was animal hair everywhere, the hallway wall was torn up and the paint was a mess, the back door and screen were torn up by her dogs, and on and on with the repairs which the lease states she was responsible for taking care of and repair. I sent her an itemized copy of the repairs and the costs of labor with a the amount left over ($166) from her deposit ($790. She wants receipts and my husband misplaced them or threw them away. I could only estimate the costs of the materials. The labor was done by my husband and myself and we charged her the going minimum rate for cleaning in our area. My question is that since the lease does not state that I have to give her receipts - only an itemized statement -- I have only rented this one time with this one house -- I don't plan on nor do I have any other rental property. Can she sue me, get twice the deposit amount, etc as I have read because I'm holding and keeping the majority of her rental deposit?

yes

i had bad tenent was evicted but he woes allmost 6000 dollars in rent and attorney fees he left damages in the property i get the contractor estimate to ffix the property if i fix the property from that company cn he still challange me to take me the court not paying the deposit back i have pictures of damages

What if the tenants sign the lease and do not move in. Can you withhold the security deposit to cover the days that they should have rented and did not, till it is rented?

Unpaid rents as well.

The landlord must have stated in the rental agreement what the effects are if thelease is broken.

In my state, under no circumstance can a landlord withhold a security deposit not pertaining to damage. Even if they break the lease, state law requires deposit to be refunded, and landlord sue for any additional monies owed. Some other comments said as long as it is stated in the lease, which is NOT true. Your lease cannot contradict state law. The security deposit section of my leases states exactly what the law says, and we have never ran into a legal problem . . . yet anyways!

Any time you decide to keep the security deposit. You must, in writing. deliver it to them with-in 30 days. The written reason why you are keeping it. Make copys for your records! And when, how the letter was delivered. By hand, signed recipt mail. Other wise they can sue for 2X the security deposit. So you know. They leave early? You are also entitled to rent from them. You do have to make an ongoing effort to re-rent the place. Till it is re-rented. You can sue for the $ owed till it was rented. And dont' forget any costs. Damage repair , add costs, ect.

Thanks for responding to my question. The lease says "Lessee to pay damage deposit of $xxx in advance, which sall be retained by Lessor or his agent until the final month of tenancy, it being sunderstood and agreed that said deposit shall serve as a guarantee that the Lessee will perform his part of this agreement and maintain the premises in as good a condition as when begun. Said money to be refunded to Lessee if all terms of this agreement are met: 1. Proper notice is given. 2. No damage to property. 3. Entire property, including range, refrigerator, bathroom, closets and cupboards are clean. refrigerator to be defrosted. 4. No stickers or scratches on walls, woodwork, floors or cupboards. 5. All keys are returned. 6. All debris removed from premises and placed in proper rubbish containers. 7. Forwarding address left with Lessor. It is further agreed that the Lessor or his agents may deduct from said deposit any amounts necessary to recondition the premises. So with this section of the security/damage deposit, does this mean that if the landlord has the right to keep the deposit?

What does the lease agreement say. Remember the lease is a binding contract. So I would say
Yes. As long as it is stated in the Lease Contract and there is no Lease-to-Own contract that would contradict the Lease Contract. It sounds like the tenant and the landlord had a lease contract and then later the tenant just decided to buy the home.
The lease contract should have stated that the security deposit would be refunded (less damagae costs, clean up costs, etc.) in the event the property was sold. (thats a pretty standard paragraph in all leases) so the tenant would be entitled to her security deposit regardless of who bought the property (including herself). If this clause was not in the lease contract then the tenant has broken the lease contract because the lease contract is suppose to provide the landlord with a way to ensure timely rental income or a remedy in case the contract is broken. By buying the property the tenant is cheating the landlord out of his rental income.