The potential hassle of keeping their deposit without their consent just seems like a can not worth opening.Hope this helps.

Provide a copy of this to every applicant and have somewhere on your application stating that the tenant has received it and has reviewed it with a signed consent.

If nothing else, you will have a judgement that can be noted on their credit history.Something you might consider for the future: in the form we use to gain consent from an applicant to pull their credit history there is wording which also gathers their consent to report payment events (both adverse and positive) to the credit agency (this wording comes from the agency itself and is part of a template we are to use as part of the service).  

Before we consented, I verified this using bank account deposit records.

We obtain a signed consent form from the guarantor to pull their credit history and verify their employment income.  

I have the option in the lease that says they can't sublease it or assign it without my consent, so in theory all I need to do is work up an agreement transferring the lease to the new person and getting the tenant moving out to sign and the tenant moving in to sign, right?

Use what @Sue Kelley posted above to ensure tenant does no more "improvements" without your written consent.

I use a third party service that gets applicants consent by email to run their report which is sent to me.Open houses can be a mess because if you have 30 people show up, it is difficult to monitor everyone and what they're doing while you're showing the property.

Sending them signed consent forms, etc...

We draw the line on storing liquids such as {lamp} alcohol, kerosene or gasoline in the living space {if there is a garage and the liquids are properly stored in approved containers, that is fine}.If you are signing a single lease with the group of tenants you can require they furnish you with have proof of renters insurance and that you are a named insured on the policy ... you can also require their consent for you to contact the insurance provided to verify coverage.Let them work out whether they purchase individual policies or a collective policy - there's a good chance they will not be able to purchase a collective policy - or that it would be cost effective.