handling security deposit for potentially litigious tenant

[Mark Coogan]

Would appreciate help on this one.  I recently acquired a property where a dirty tenant of 2.5 years had to be removed prior to close as part of the contract. Ultimately, the tenant ended up moving after the close.  The tenant, whom left on her own accord, blames me for this (not the seller whom accepted and enacted the terms of the deal).  It should be noted that she never received any type of notice to vacate from me.

I'm now in the process of trying to figure out how to handle her security deposit.  I truly believe she moved into a relatively nice unit as the unit above her is a pretty nice mirror unit.  However, she has left it filthy. This unit required extensive cleaning from a crew, mopping of the walls, drywall repair, entire repainting, professional pest control, light fixture replacement, door repair/replace, door jamb repair, tile replace, electric baseboard repair/replace.  In total, to get the unit in rent ready condition will cost me over 2.5k.

So I'm not sure how I should handle her security deposit for this tenant who has written me a scathing email claiming this "forced" move has cause her child emotional anguish and notes she is seeking legal counsel.

Thoughts?