I write a mystery series set around a dog kennel, and I'm a total research geek to boot--not to mention having learned a great deal from the BP forums! 

So, there's no mystery to that risk here.  

If you held it for a month, and your holding deposit reflected a month's lost rent, for instance, that would be fair.But, to charge a month's rent as a "holding deposit," when you only held the property for a few days, probably wouldn't fly in court.There are no real mystery magical clauses you can put into leases that allow you do do anything that is not "reasonable."  

I could spend time trying to decode the mystery and evaluate my risk, but I just don't feel it is worth it.

Or it "mysteriously" got lost in the mail yet the renter has a picture of it as it was being mailed... 

Maybe it keeps failing for some structural reason.I agree with the others that say that if you charge this tenant for a mystery problem like this, they'll simply hide it and not tell you about it or try to fix it themselves.Picture being the tenant knowing that the toilet is leaking again, and now they know that if they call you, it's going to cost them $200 they don't have.  

So, there is no mystery contract that the housing authority doesn't know about.  

It's not a mystery and nobody here is making up bizarre information.

I hope Brian comes back and updates us to solve the mystery :-)

If they could have just given you 30 days notice, there would have been no mystery complaints.So, in my opinion, having M2M agreements keeps the power on your side.