Out of State Tenant - Holding Deposit

[Kristen A Gleason]

Hi BP community,

I have a tenant applicant who is moving from out of state and will not see the property until they move in.  They are planning to move in the property in late April, but are willing to pay for the entire month (therefore the lease would begin April 1st).  I would like to approve them since they seem like good candidates but my question is on the "deposit on hold".  Should that be the entire amount of the security deposit (1.5 rent in AZ) to take it off the market?  Right now it's early march and so if they backed out we would lose almost an entire month of finding a new tenant.  The deposit on hold would turn into the security deposit when they move in, so it seems to make sense to me but I didn't know if it was too much to ask for.

Kristen