Any Landlord Here Who Decides NOT to Take Security Deposit?

[Unai La Salle]

I recently closed on a property where I inherited tenants and my lawyer is very adamant that I return all the security deposit to the tenants asap.  His reasoning is that there are too many esoteric rules about the deposit, landlords get sued over it all the time, and it's just more trouble than it's worth.  

In the end, I didn't listen to him, but that makes my wonder if any landlord here indeed opt to forgo this standard practice.  What do you do in its place?  How do you ensure that the tenants keep the place reasonably neat and how do you protect yourself when (god forbid) a tenant trashed your unit?