@Paris Morris Here in Virginia I know agents who wholesale and they have forms that both they and all persons involved in the transaction sign acknowledging that they understand they are a licensed real estate salesperson and that all parties acknowledge that you are not and will not be representing them and that you are not forming an agency agreement with anyone involved and that you have an interest in the transaction as an investor.

My addendum includes:Name of Tenant wishing to leaveDate of departureDeparting tenant acknowledges they no longer have rights to the unit and will return keysRemaining tenant(s) acknowledges they accept full responsibility for rent and condition of the unitAll parties acknowledge deposit remains with me.

The fact that you called him and he said "keep it" is an acknowledgement that he willingly and knowingly left the property in an unacceptable condition. 

The form is CALLED "Verification of Allowable Expenses" but the form itself acknowledges that you've already been paid for those things. 

Then have your partners and every contractor/handyman sign it acknowledging their commitment to the plan. 

To that I would say... while you are stalking me and making yourself angry over these posts I don't even acknowledge your existence and go about my happy little day... while you pop a vein over me.

The landlord acknowledging you saying you were leaving early is not in itself an agreement of an early termination.  

You need to be aware of and acknowledge that first step -- you're leapfrogging it right now...

You acknowledge that the Property has been offered for sale subject to withdrawal from the market, change in offering price, prior sale or rejection of any offer because of the terms thereof, lack of satisfactory credit references of any prospective purchaser, or for any other reason whatsoever, without notice.

It seems simple....if the contract required the EM within 48 hours and they did Not deposit it, you simply send them a notice of breach and cancelation...no acknowledgement from them is necessary.If they Did deposit it, you either have to wait it out while taking back up offers, or give them all or part of it back for a signed cancelation.