How to Handle a Tenant Breaking a Lease

[Jennifer Klein]

I have a tenant who wants to break her year lease 5 months early. She has offered to pay 3 of the 5 months  but keep her deposit and last months rent.

If we let her go, having some buffer to find a new tenant would be nice but the fact that we need to find one during the holidays and leading into winter does not sit well with me. Plus she is breaking her lease. Should I negotiate the amount with her and let her go and hoping we find someone for Jan 1, or do I play hardball and hold her to the lease?

Some backstory, she paid her first 6 months upfront because she sold her house to get out of debt. She did not have a job but paid upfront to build trust and assured us she would have a job in 6 months time. Last week she sent a picture of a small hole in the linoleum floor and crack in trim which looks like she dropped a heavy piece of furniture. She said it happened while she was out of town and now does not feel safe in the house. December was the first month she was to pay after her 6 month prepayment but I knew right away she was going to use this strange hole in the floor to get out of her lease now that she needs to start paying. She did pay December rent and then waited a week before she said she wants to leave. 

Any suggestions on how to handle this situation? The house is in North Carolina. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you!