Originally posted by nobb
They are obligated to complete the remainder of the lease. Usually the deal I make with my tenants is that if they leave early, as long as they clean up the place in good condition, and help find another renter such that there is no vacancy and cover the advertisement expenses, then I am fine with ending the lease. If they absolutely intend on leaving, there wont be much you can do anyways (other then taking them to court for lost money) so might as well do it on good terms.
I had a situation last year that went sideways, they wanted to leave after a month and in the middle of the downturn it was next to impossible to find someone to rent. The ball is pretty much in their court since you have to take them to court over loss of income and you can only do that after you find someone new (to quantify the loss). Put a new ad up immediately. Play as nice as possible, get as much as possible out of them (my renter paid 2 months worth of rent for vacant place and $700 in damages) and obviously keep their damage deposit. Luckily I held some of their furniture hostage for a bit, but in the end I was the one who got screwed.
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
-Thomas Jefferson 1802