Terminating lease in Tennessee but tenant paid upfront

[Joshua Steven Ferrell]

Hello all,

I have a situation where I rented out a a furnished rental unit to a new tenant for 3 months.  We signed a lease and the term length is from August 1, 2022 to October 31, 2022.  

I collected a security deposit and the tenant paid me 100% of the rent upfront in exchange for a 10% discount for his stay.  Now he is wanting to leave at the end of this month and be refunded for months 2 and 3.  He signed a lease with us while he was looking for a house to buy and he found one quicker then he originally thought he would.  Therefore, he want to get out of the lease.

In my lease, the language I have written for termination is "Any notice to terminate this tenancy must comply with the applicable legislation of the State of Tennessee (the "Act")."   I have been using a generic template from www.lawdepot.com and i'm sure this is not the best language for my lease, but I am still learning.  

I want to be fair, but sometimes our house doesn't rent very quickly because it is a monthly furnished rental.   I have listed the property back online and I am trying to find a renter but haven't had any luck yet.

Can anyone point me to the actual laws that describe what I'm legally obligated to do as the landlord?  Does anyone have any advice on how to handle this situation?  

[Theresa Harris]

Let him move and tell him you will find a new tenant ASAP, but until you do, he's responsible for the lease.  I'd also charge him the full price-no 10% discount as he didn't stay the full 30 months.  Hopefully you worded the lease such that the 10% came off the back end (eg last week was rent free).