Deposit returned after leaving without notice?

[Jesse Rangel]

I have a renter who was at 1 of my rentals since June 2019.

Deposit of $700

Rent of $800 all bills paid.

After the first year I tried to get them to sign a contract for another year. The renter said they were planning on moving so would prefer month to month, I was ok with it since the pandemic hit that year 2020. So they ended up moving out this month March 7th 2021.

They are asking to receive their full deposit back and are holding the keys and change the locks before leaving. Kind of keeping the keys as hostage to get their deposit.

I explained to them that I need to get inside to see what needs to get repaired, I need to prorate the days for this month they were they because they did not give me this months rent. After that I can make an assessment of what was spent and give them the balance.

Now they are saying I am being un fair to them. Note I stopped charging them late fees when the pandemic started last March 2020, oh and they were late at least a week or 2 every month.

Any feed back would be great.

Best Regards