Deposit hold and charges?

[Chris Sones]

The other day I went to a property management class and got some beneficial information from it. One of the questions I asked was if a person can take late fees from a deposit. The answer I received was probably not, but I could use it for damages and back rent.

I've been in a situation with a past tenant that moved out. The company he works for has informed me that they will pick up the cost of past due rent to help him get out of the lease. I said if they would pick up the past due month and the month of Oct. so I had time to get another tenant in that he could quit his lease. I said I knew that the company helped him get in and that I could release the deposit back to the company so long as I had a written statement from the tenant for me to release the deposit back in the companies name. I haven't received anything from the company yet so I called today and they said they did get confirmation that they could send a check to cover the rent fees. He said he would check on the status and let me know how the payment is coming.

I didn't plan on releasing the deposit until I receive payment, but aren't I suppose to release a deposit within a period of time. I feel like I'm at a threshold of where I should do something with the deposit. I'm wondering if there is any problem keeping the deposit until I see the payments come through and then releasing a deposit statement? Also since I've been without the rent for a few months, can I take the late fees out of the deposit? I'm also still trying to fill the vacancy.