Would the intent of the buyer's non-refundable, earnest money deposit be on the assignment fee, payable to me, or for a deposit on the purchase price of the house.  

(Unless specifically specified by statute or legal agreement, both of which are unlikely).The court doesn't always look at the "letter" of the incident, they look at the intent.

Am with @Nathan G on this one.I currently have the following clause in my leases.Please check with your attorney to see if it will work in your state, but I also will not waste time with an attorney, but then again, my leases contain this clause, so tenants are made aware of my intent should they decide to abandon the place.Good luck PS. 

We currently live in our primary residence and have the intent of moving out in 1.5 years and make it a short term rental once we move out.

So your vision of things, is via a lens you pre-selected to see things in, an "evil" intention vs one where they are trying to avoid the size a universal increase would require, the burden upon everyone, and seeking how to achieve same ends but in a more fair and balanced approach. 

You will never really know who you rent your property to until you actually rent it to them, because their is no background check for double personalities, hidden anger issues, spiteful intentions, or who someone becomes when there angry or upset.

Ill send you a DM :)Are you finding that the Tampa STRs are doing well even with the 7 night minimum ordinance?  

Again, to correct the situation, we issued you a full refund for that month to keep you satisfied.It seems that despite our best intentions, we may not have been the right fit for your needs.

Ill be taking your advice and hopefully meet you at an reia meet up.

After everything was said and done I gave a verbal offer of 150k and followed up with a tactic of Letter of Intent having three offers.