we have individual storage lockers for  each apartment, laundry room in every building, private parking lot, and if you count this i just bought them patio furniture and put it out our courtyard and plan on having someone come in to plant a vegetable garden ( we have a couple seniors who miss their garden and alot of our students are vegans)

This is money paid by the tenant and held by the landlord to pay for any damage beyond ordinary wear and tear the tenant might do to the rental unit, any unpaid rent, or any money the tenant owes to the landlord under some agreement.

Your ordinary objective is to not permit a tenant to ever get free rent in your head, which I believe by reading your many excellent posts, ought to be treated as high rent district!

Only one entry way to the lower level, which is to this "kitchenette" space, 2x br with one of the br opened to a below-ground-level-closed-in patio (I know, hard to described and weird setup).

In my market...Washington DC...this actually would not be totally out of the ordinary.  

. - Capital gains (Depreciation will be taxed at 25% while the rest will be taxed at 15%)- Net Investment Income Tax (this is a federal tax) at 3.8%- CA income tax (the proceeds are taxed as ordinary income with a max rate of 10.3%)You'll also have CA withholdings required, so you'll need to account for that at tax time. 

If they ask if they can get the cable company to wire their unit, say, no, I don't want them messing with my walls.There is also a law I researched a while back for someone, that says a tenant can install dish TV antenna, if they have their own patio or outside space.  

The laundry area could be partitioned off with louvered bi-fold doors to ease appearances.You could possibly take down the wooden shed between the trees and build a garage with extra storage space right behind the "patio", if that would withstand being used as part of a driveway.David J Dachtera"Success is not a destination.

My tenant spilled latex paint on the patio...and something else that looks like rust.  

I think for the carpet she has a legitimate reason to take your 1400 though over 5 years you might argue it should be replaced regardless of whether there are pet stains due to ordinary wear and tear.