It is a modest use of my time and the expenditure is minor but I find it helps in building goodwill that comes in handy with subsequent issues as they arise.

If the tenant has been a good client and you feel charitable (there is nothing wrong with a compassionate business as long as you are not being taken advantage of or starving yourself/family), then I'd arrange with the tenant to deliver the keys to you on XX date and you will either a) prorate their deposit back to them according to the days they had "key occupancy" assuming the condition of the residence meets your standards to release the security deposit, or b) charge them the amount of the anticipated date XX on the 1st of August and then return their security deposit upon their subsequent vacancy and cleaning subject to your inspection.Personally, I like the prorating of the security deposit better if you feel like the tenant is a good individual and will treat your property with integrity before they move, and it shows additional compassion by not tying up their money while they position themselves for a new location.In any case, do not put yourself in odds with the law, and do not perform any activity that would allow your tenant to come back against you. 

They gave me a pet deposit, but I subsequently found out when a possum came in the house that the dog wasn't vaccinated for rabies.

Subsequently their relationship fell apart and are changing careers.  

If you can solidfy a well-oil machine for getting units rented, and subsequently turned over in the summer time for next year, you can have a very profitable business.College housing usually starts marketing their rentals in first weeks of the spring semester, with leases starting in the summer/fall!

If you ever run into a Fair Housing Tester who qualified per the rental criteria and lost out to a subsequent applicant you are going to have to explain that in a lot more detail  than I would ever want to.Most of us are not attorney's and would prefer not to pay for them.

I did miss the reference to the "guest" in the subsequent post, and that does seem a little sketchy now that you point it out. 

You're not doing anything new or clever, you're just making my life more difficult because when one of my tenants has a landlord before me that deals with them in this manner, it's hard to build a good relationship with them.To reiterate my previous point, if you lose a hearing where you cannot justify having kept some of the tenant's deposit, there will be some record of that even if they do owe you money for utilities and are subsequently forced to repay you.

With that being said, ideally I would want someone who could accompany me when I go to tour the potential properties and be able to give me an assessment of repairs and subsequent costs prior to me submitting an offer.  

Therefore, if your MAO is subsequently rejected, YOU have already decided that offering more is "not allowable"!