What is the name of your state? Michigan
I would like to know if I have legal grounds to collect for charges associated with a rental house. Here's the situation...We relocated for our employer, looked at a residential house to rent from the personal owner, not a company. We completed an application, had a verbal agreement to move in on a Sunday, they received $950.00 security deposit and $950.00 rent checks by mail on the previous Friday. We were to sign the contract in person upon move in Sunday. My spouse moved in with some possessions at that time (the moving co was scheduled to pack the house up on Wed.) On Sunday, the owners were "busy" and said they would set up a time for the contract on Monday, yet they did provide my spouse with a key and "possession" of the house. On Monday the informed us that they changed their mind and decided to sell the house. We had a verbal agreement, possession, and cost incurred by the utility companies for connections and etc. My spouse left Tues. morning and retained another house, the owners left a check for $1900.00 as a reimbursement for our rent and security dep. In which we didn't know if it would clear, so we placed stop payments on our two checks, costing $50.00. That was 1 month ago, I have their $1900.00 check still and there is no notation or memo what it is for, there was no contract. I want to know if I cashed their check, kept apx. 100.00 for bank and utility fees (we have recpts), and gave them back the difference of $1800.00, can I do that? Legally the check could be a "gift" for anyone knows, there was no services rendered, etc. It's borderline in the ethics dept. but I feel they do owe us for actual fees, not to mention the near panic attack for all the other arrangements and hours spent fixing this. Please tell me what you think. Do I have a right to mess around with their check (if they didn't place a stop payment, it's legal) but would they have any legal recourse or complaint for our actions?
Thanks for any input!

**A: why are you playing games? You should have cashed the check the day you got it.