My question involves landlord-tenant (sublessee) law in the State of: Oregon.
I signed a contract to sublet an apartment from two girls for 3 months this summer. Because my roommate was planning to go to grad school after one month, we included the following in the contract:
"Sublessor shall provide Sublessee with the use and enjoyment of the premises until the original lease expires on August 15, 2011.
Sublessee shall pay directly to Sublessor $866 per month...if there are two residents staying at said premises. If the Sublessee is the only resident of the premises, she shall pay $450 per month."
I also paid them a "non-refundable security deposit" of $200, which was not used for carpet cleaning, since the place has wood floors. After 2 months, one of them announced that they were moving in a month early. Since she was moving in early and breaking the contract, I decided to move out and not pay the last month's rent.
Now they are taking me to small claims court for the last $450. My question is: isn't the contract nullified by them moving in and breaking the lease - making it so that I don't have to abide by the financial terms of the contract?

