Tenant Can't Pay Early Termination Fee

[Joel Mora]

I have a house in Seagoville, and my tenant let me know on July 6 that they need to move out on July 20th. The reason she mentioned is that her grandmother in another state is sick with cancer, having a surgery, and she needs to take care of her. In her message, she said that she will return the house to me as it was when she received it and that I can keep the security deposit. 

However, I have an early termination clause in my lease that is 2x rent. She didn't know  and she said she would get back to me about getting the money. So far, it seems like she won't have the money for the termination fee and she is definitely leaving on the 20th.

Overall, she's been a good tenant with no issues, but it took me a long time to get this house rented and I'm not sure with such short notice how fast I can get it rented again. 

My question is what do i do about this fee? Do I contact a lawyer or collection agency if she doesn't pay it? That seems like it will cost me more money and time but I can really use all the money I can get with such a short turn around and the small margins the house makes already. I haven't mentioned collections or lawyers to her yet because I want to keep the communication open and amicable and make sure she continues to respect the house, but I don't know what to do. I also don't live in the state where the house is.