Does she have to return the deposits?

Get an estoppel statement detailing the terms of the lease and the security deposit being held from the tenant.

Lastly, this article covers the part where we talk about where their deposit came from... the SF homeless shelter, they scammed them as well.... forged my signature on a few docs, etc. 

As for rent collection, just so I don't have issues/excuses of when the deposit was actually made, I have my tenants deposit directly into my business account at Chase bank.

I'd say that the $1800 security deposit and $50 per person over 18 is the reason it has not yet  rented.

., former employer 401k) to a solo 401k are not reported on Form 5498, but rather on Form 5500-EZ, but only if the air market value of the solo 401k exceeds $250K as of the end of the plan year (generally 12/31);When funds are rolled over or transferred from an IRA or 401k to a self-directed IRA, the amount deposited into the self-directed IRA is reported on Form 5498 by the receiving self-directed IRA custodian by May of the year following the rollover/transfer.Rollovers (provided the 60 day rollover window is satisfied) from an IRA to a Solo 401k or self-directed IRA are reported on lines 15a and 15b of Form 1040;Pre-tax IRA contributions on reported on line 32 of Form 1040;Pre-tax solo 401k contributions are reported on line 28 of Form 1040;Roth solo 401k funds are subject to RMDs;A Roth 401k may be transferred to a Roth IRA (Note that from a planning perspective, it may be advantageous to transfer Roth Solo 401k funds to a Roth IRA before turning age 70 ½ in order to escape the Roth RMD requirement applicable to Roth 401k contributions including Roth Solo 401k contributions and earnings.)

I heard that when you are licensed agent you are required to hold security deposits in the brokers trust account, but I can't seem to find anything online that supports or refutes that (this would be a MN license).  

For example with wholesaling houses the process could be explained in these simple steps:Step 1: Market to motivated sellers Step 2: Sign purchase contract with the seller Step 3: Find cash buyerStep 4: Sign contract with cash buyer for a higher price and collect 2k deposit Step5: Close Transaction via Assignment or Double Closing and Collect your checkThird, learn has much as possible about the 5 skills needed to be a Pro at wholesaling.

Doesn't make a whole lot of sense for them, so practical answer is you probably lose your deposit.

I would do a new lease, and write in month to month. with 30 day notice, listing the same amount of security deposit as before.