Law about holding and not giving deposit before move in of tenant

[Lorin K.]

I live in a very expensive area "I rent" where tear downs go for a million dollars. I made a deposit for a place and then, 2-3 days later backed out on the 10th of the month. I backed out of the rental agreement and the landlord "she was a master renter" would not return my deposit. She gave a typed up receipt and signed it. I was going to make a complaint to the provincial goverment but the deposit was so small minus the 100 dollar application fee, it was not worth my time.

Do the laws of your state say a land lord can hold onto and not give back a damage deposit "she was acting like it was a hold deposit" if the tenant applicant backs out of the rental agreement? The walls in the place were purple and asked her if they were going to be white she said yes.......I bed she used my deposit to pay the painter to paint the room white. 

[Steve McGovern]

I just asked my business partner, an Attorney and Project Manager for a national, residential property management company...   this is in Massachusetts, which is notoriously Tenant-Friendly, and she says that if you backed out on the rental, then it's perfectly reasonable for the LL to retain your deposit.