Back in my Navy days, in Whidbey Island - we 'looked' at a place for rent, said we were interested but still looking. The guy said, well lots of people are 'interested' in my little hell hole, you need to give me a deposit to keep your name on my list & if you don't get back to me within 7 days the deposit is mine. Dumbazzes that we were at the time, I wrote a check. We found a better place in less than 7 days & I called and told the guy I wanted my $$ back - he said tough ####, that was your deposit to hold your name, if you don't move in you lose your money.
I was so pizzed at the principle of the whole damn thing - I took the azz to court. I tried to put a hold on the check, and he had already cashed it (in fact the day I wrote it). I didn't win. He said blah, blah, blah about how he lost renters while 'holding' it for us. I knew he was lying because the place did not rent for over 3 months after we informed him we were no longer interested.
BTW - this was all 'verbal'. Big mistake #1 - get everything in writing.
I reported him to the BBB, the housing office, every damn forum available to the area, and also wrote a letter to the newspaper. I didn't win the small claims court, but I'm pretty sure I helped to make his name mud. He no longer rents in that area, but I'm sure he's alive and still scamming people somewhere.
I highly recommend she seeks legal advice.
If she's struggling financially many lawyers will help for nothing or very little.