We are the Landlord on a one year lease of a single family California home which ends in May 2008. Our tenants may need to move due to work/health issues early. If he vacates early, is he obligated to pay the rent in full for the term of the lease or such time I am able to find a new tenant? Can I retain the security deposit until the property is released for payment of rent or do I have to refund within the 3 weeks dictated by law? Are the former tenants obligated to pick up the expense of finding and screening new tenants?

You are only entitled to the rent lost due to the broken lease, and costs incurred. This means that you have to make a good faith effort to re-rent the property, and if a tenant is found, you cannot in effect collect double rent. You can retain the deposit to cover the vacancy period, but you should provide a written accounting of the disposition of these funds to the tenant. If this has been a good tenant who is forced to move due to circumstances beyond his control, I would not be hard nosed about it. Talk to the tenant and get their FULL cooperation in getting a new tenant prior to their move. You could ask them to pay for some newspaper ads (which are expensive, and a poor source; Craigs list is better, and free), costs of credit screening, and to show the property to new prospects, and to leave the property in pristine condition. If all works out, a new tenant could move in as soon as the property is vacant, with minimal cost and aggravation to you both. Life is just too short to seek out needless battles. Good luck.

Also on the rental issue, the lease or rental is not complete until the lease ends, they merely moving out is not ending the lease, ending the lease is when the time frame ends, or you move another tenant into the rental. So the deposit is not returned until the end of the actual lease, not when they just move out.