I rented out a house in King County, WA. The tenant signed one year lease on the WA state standard lease form.
Seven months into the lease, the tenant informed us that she was going to move out in two months. It happened at one of the inconveninent month. I had a baby and my husband was on the business trip most of the time. We scrambled to find a new tenant. In the end there is no gap in between.
The tenant who broke the lease now asked us to refund her security deposit. Her reason is that we found the tenant and there is no gap between two leases. She kept the house clean during the showing. She had to move two days out to accommodate the new tenant.