Bought a 4-plex at the commissioner's sale, what about tenant deposits?

[Michael Seeker]

As the title says, I just bought a 4-plex at the commissioner's sale today. I went over and had a chat with the tenant who is the "manager" of the property along with 2 or 3 others that the previous (delinquent) owner has. All-in-all I think it should be a painless transition, however he told me that the owner has the deposits for the tenants.

I'm wondering if anybody has advice on how I should proceed, assuming the previous owner won't pay up.

I know it is my responsibility to honor existing leases that were made in good faith, however I'm not sure if I'm expected to reimburse a tenant for a deposit that I never received.

I'm already working on contacting the previous owner to see if I can get the deposits or have her return them to the tenants, however I'm just trying to plan ahead in the likely event that she doesn't return them.