Chicago Landlord

The company I work for sends out a move-out letter to all the tenants that are not renewing. The letter states what needs to be cleaned and what the charges are if the unit is not clean. It pays to be specific. Legally you can only charge for damages. You should state in your lease agreement what condition the unit needs to be returned in and what counts as damage. Remember, if a tenant ruins carpet that is ten years old you cannot charge them for new carpet. You have to take into consideration the depreciation on the old carpet and charge them just a portion of the new carpet cost.
I had two college-age tenants that made several holes in almost all of the doors and I think they were wearing cleats in the apartment too. I was able to charge them for both the cost of new doors and the labor to install the doors as well as the fee for re-sanding the floor. I had another tenant who painted all his white laminate kitchen cabinets red. In that situation I was only able to charge the fee to replace the fronts of all the cabinets as the rest of the cabinet was still in good shape. These cabinets were only a few years old.
Don't forget that you have to pay interest on security deposits in the city, and the rate changes ever year. You can call the city or your local alderman to find out what the rate is.