First time dealing with trouble tenants.

[Joshua Jarrett]

My new tenants moved in a couple months ago and they are already wanting out of their 12 month lease.

The guy is in the Air Force and is pending a medical discharge. He is feeding me some BS about not being allowed to be on a lease until he is discharged and that he is required to move back to his duty station until officially discharged.
This is a huge pain which could have been easily avoided by not signing a lease in the first place. 

I’m at a loss at what I should do. He had a couple people that would take over the lease but they aren’t up to my standards. He is paying above market rent and I really don’t want to have to try and find more tenants. 

What are my options? Do I have to let him out of the lease?

[Nathan Gesner]

@Joshua Jarrett

If he's facing a medical discharge, there's a good chance you will have to let him out at some point. Better to do it now and get it over with. I recommend you try to find a way to negotiate a win-win with the renter. I require tenants to give a 30-day notice in writing, pay an early termination fee equal to a month's rent when they give notice, in that they allow me to market and show the home during those last 30 days. over 80% of departing tenants accept these terms and I end up making more money because of it.

Negotiating a win-win is always the best option. The alternative is that the tenant finds a way to break the lease with less notice, no termination fee, and no time to find a replacement renter. For example, if the tenant just packs up and moves tomorrow, you can continue holding him responsible for rent and utilities until a replacement tent is found, but you are obligated to make a good faith effort to find a replacement tenant as soon as possible. If you find one in one week, you can only hold the terminating tenant responsible for the one week of lost rent income.

Negotiating a win-win is more likely to put more money in your pocket and keep everyone happy.