Tenant moved out before lease term

[Ping W.]

The current lease of the tenant expires the end of October but they moved out at the beginning of October. They did pay October rent in full. We are looking for new tenant now. If I find a tenant before the end of October, do I need to refund the previous tenant's partial rent for Oct? They did give me 30 day advance move out notice.

A property management agent told me the tenant abandoned the house when they moved out. Is that true? What is the condition to say tenant abandoned the house.

I am new as landlord. I appreciate any input from all your expert!

[Bill S.]

@Ping W. A few questions. Did the tenant give the property manager the keys when they moved out? Did the PM "check the tenant out of the unit"? If the tenant still has the keys they still have possession and I would not consider it abandoned because they have paid rent. 

Abandonment is usually covered by local law and court cases but I would consider it abandoned if they haven't paid rent and have moved out. Abandonment can be tricky because most of the time they leave something behind so it's a bit hard to prove they weren't planning on returning and paying rent. 

If they gave your agent the keys and the agent did any kind of check out, then the term I would use would be "surrender possession." If they surrendered possession then you have the right to rerent. To avoid any issues with returning rent if you rerent before the end of the month they should have signed a document stating they were leaving early and that they are forfeiting the remainder of the rent for the month.  The sticky part is the utilities. If the tenant is still responsible for paying utilities until the end of the month it is a bit of a hard sell that they have surrendered possession. If you have a termination agreement the way to deal with that is to take over the utilities when they give you the keys. 

You have to weigh the cost of utilities vs the potential for rent for the rest of the month.