Tenant moved but won't clear out rooms, return keys, or pay

[Jenny Chung]

In late August, I had asked my upstairs tenant to move out and he agreed to start looking for a place. He lived on my property through September and moved in early October. However, he says he still has junk upstairs and has not given me the key back. He has been constantly pushing back when he will completely be moving out and has not paid rent. I deducted from his deposit for the month of August, but still hasn't paid for September and keeps saying that we'll work it out. I'm put in a difficult situation because I cannot renovate the space until he gives back the key and he hasn't paid rent. Is he liable to pay rent for as long as he has the keys?