Verbal Agreement

[kimberlin]

I had a tenant who agreeed to a one year lease for my property. I asked at least 3 times if they were sure and to prove that they wanted the house, gave me a month's worth of rent to hold the house for them. I told them this would be non-refundable. They took the application home and would fill out and send back. I never received the application but later received a phone call saying they no longer wanted to rent the house. I stated that I needed a letter saying they were backing out of the agreement and that I would refund the difference, less costs for relisting and less any monies for each day that the place wasn't rented for that month. Needless to say I couldn't get the place leased in that short a time and am keeping the entire amount. Now they are threatening to take me to small claims court stating that we didn't have anything written. Do I have anything, other than the fact that they did indeed give me a check, to stand on? As I see it, they actually owe me money for the new listing and for time spent getting the place rented again. Is the check they wrote enough to stand on or is this going to turn into a big he said - she said?