As a landlord letting a property through an agent, once the deposit has been paid by the tenant to the agent, can we as landlords ask the agent for the deposit back and hold it ourselves? As we have experienced difficulty in getting our deposits back?

As a landlord letting a property through an agent, once the deposit has been paid by the tenant to the agent, can we as landlords ask the agent for the deposit back and hold it ourselves? as we have experienced difficulty in getting our deposits back?
Do you have a contract with the agent/manager? I would think it's certainly something that could be written into your contract with them.

Now remember, in some states there are pretty strict requirements regarding what landlords do with deposits they are holding. Some require them to be held in an "escrow" account, or other dedicated account.