I lived in a house with 6 other girls and it has been the worst decision of my life. Since the house was only rated for 6 people living there, I was never on the lease, nor did I sign any written agreement (or verbal agreement) about the dates I'd be living there, etc.
It started in the summer. I was paying rent starting May and planned on moving into the house in June. One week before I was to move in, I emailed the girl already living there about getting the key. She informed me that she had subletted my room since I had expressed interest in subletting (though no one let me know anyone was interested, or asked me for that matter). It caused a huge problem in which I had to cancel an internship.
Needless to say, we started off badly.
Over the next few months, I basically started living at a friends house because the girls were so awful. During this time I still paid rent every month on time, as well as their utilities (cable, heat, water, electricity) that I wasn't using. The last 4 months of the lease, I literally was in the house for a total of 2 days tops, and one girl approached me about paying their utilities because I hadn't been there to give them a check(over $200). I let her know I couldn't pay for their cable, water, etc anymore.
I'd like to add, that during this time, they got a large dog (which was against the lease) that was in my room and the common living areas, they moved a bunch of my stuff into the basement where it got dirty, and I wasn't receiving quite a few pieces of my mail (I assume they threw it out or put it somewhere).
My friends convinced me to move out during spring break, which I did. I turned my key into my landlord with a note explaining the situation and asking him to call if he had any questions.
Now they're demanding I pay the next 2 months rent (I have nothing in the house). I was assuming that I just wouldn't get my security deposit back, which is enough to cover the rent. Can they take me to small claims court?
Should I ignore the girls and just work this out through the landlord? Because he seemed to be okay with the situation (he never called me to talk)....

