the issue at hand is a question of whether the property is considered abandoned or a hold over. this issue would vary slightly state to state, and would most likely fall on the judgement of the judge who presides over the case. however, if nothing has been removed from the apartment, I doubt any judge would call it abandoned, perhaps if all utilities are turned off you may have an argument. if everything is missing except garbage and maybe a couch, then you are probably looking at abandonment, but from the way the story reads, I doubt any judge would be happy with what the landlord did.

However, the house is a former duplex that has separate utilities, egresses, etc.On top of that I found out that the smaller frontage of the lot means that the municipality in which it's located probably is not amenable to allowing the lot to be split. 

As a reminder for any other readers, the 50% rule applies to gross rents and accounts for all expenses like management fees, taxes, insurance, vacancy, maintenance, Capex, utilities, water, legal, yard, etc..You should only use the 50% rule for a quick analysis and a true historical picture of expenses on a property is preferred.

Or was it mostly utilities and common grounds costs?

I've used Al Pirro, nice guy, seems thorough and like to talk to his customers. https://www.zillow.com/profile/alpirro/

. - I should've noted that the utilities were all included in the electric budget I included in the report.6.

Bigger Pockets is creating Custom leases for each state.  

Age, condition, beds per unit, gross rents, who pays utilities, NOI, occupancy level. 

Howdy @Travis WhiteI did not see Property Management, utilities, lawn care, or other miscellaneous expenses.  

With him went his "custom cabinet maker".