Legal Advice re: Exiting Lease

[quickfetus]

Ok OOT, I need your help.

I'll make it short: I used to attend school in the northeast. I am transferring to U Miami for the coming academic year. Prior to my decision to transfer, I was planning to live in offcampus housing with 3 of my friends close to my old university. Since I pulled out, they are one person short (we were planning to rent a 4 room apartment). Naturally, none of them want to pay extra rent for an empty room. Equally naturally, I have zero interest in paying rent for a room I am not living in. The rent per person comes to roughly $350/month. I signed the lease (my name is on it), and the first rent payment is due on the 2nd of July. In the event that they do not find a replacement for me, and I refuse to pay rent, do they easily take effective legal action against me? If the situation comes to it, I am banking on the fact that the expensive, time-consuming nature of any civil matter would put them off chasing such a (relatively) small amount of money.

Please consider that I am only interested in straightforward legal advice, not moralizing or suggestions to help them find a roommate.

Quickfetus