Whats next? I just approved an applicant for my rental

Once we go through the applicant approval process we require that the applicant get to us a security deposit in full. We don't take partial payments. If they cant even come up with the deposit in full now then what is the likely hood they will be late on paying rent if their finances are running that tight? The deposit has to be a certified check or a money order. This way its much less likely that those funds will not be there when you deposit them. We try not to accept cash and never a personal check or at least only on rare occasions. We let each applicant know that once we get the deposit that it will not be refunded if for some reason they back out of the rental. We clearly state that in the application. Its not fair to us or our clients that a tenant decides one week before moving in that they are getting relocated or the couple is breaking up or their grandmother is sick>>> we have heard every excuse. We have lost valuable market time and it has cost us money by holding the apartment. We will refund a deposit if its only a few days or maybe even as long as a week because lets be real you have to be somewhat reasonable or we may keep part of the deposit. Hope this is helpful to all.