Inappropriate landlord conduct/ wrongful lease termination

[seeingred86]

I rent a room in a house in a suburb of Chicago. The state of IL and the village in which I reside has no laws protecting tenants from having their landlord enter the premises. In the house I rent I have two roommates. Each roommate has a seperate lease. My first roommate has begun dating our landlord and he spends time in our home without my permission and enters the home unannouned. His girlfriend and I have had verbal altercations about this and other issues such as her being a slob. He of course takes her side in all matters. We recently had a third roommate move. My initial roommate slandered me and gave the new roommate a bad impression of me before getting a chance to know me. The latest roommate began harassing me through text messages and calling me names accusing me of eating her cheesecake (I am an athlete and do not eat stuff like that) and yelling at me for not giving her enough room in the shared storage areas. I recently completed my final exams (I'm in college) so moving my things was not a priority, nor have we had a third roommate in almost a year and I was also not asked to move anything. Had I been asked I would have been glad to do so. Since my first roommate has slandered me to both my new roommate and landlord I have been made to look like a bully. While I was being harassed and berated by my new roommate via text message my landlord text messaged me saying that I need to be more flexible and that we need to have a meeting. When I got home that evening the roommate that had been harassing me hid in her room and didn't speak to me. The next day we got in a verbal altercation because she seems to have some problem with touching and moving my things. I told my landlord that we need to talk at his earliest convenience. He came over later that evening with his father and I told him what had been going on and they both began lecturing me about my conduct and the tidiness of the house. They are in no position to lecture me and I have been the only one cleaning that house the entire three years that I've lived there. He made mention of ending my lease early. My lease is up July 31st. That evening the inflammatory roommate verbally harassed me and my friend that I had visiting me at the house. My friend and I were sitting on the front porch and she came out and asked me if I took her "f*&^)(*" keys. Which I had not and then proceeded to dead bolt me out of the house. Her boyfriend got in my face because I removed a patio table that her and her friends were using but that I own. I left that evening and went to stay at my mom's house in the next town over. I went back yeterday to get clothes and things I would need because I fear what they would do to retaliate against me. I also secured my breakable things such as dishes using zip ties. Last night at 11pm when i was trying to fall asleep my landlord began text messaging e that i need to clean up the house and remove the zip ties, i told him that i refuse to reove the zip ties to deter my roommates from damaging my belongings. He also told me that he will be showing my room today. He did not give me 24 hours notice. Today, I called the police department and asked about the zip ties and they told me I could do whatever is necessary to protect my property as long as i dont damage his. I also wrote him a letter stating that if he plans to prematurely end my lease that i wasnt the terms in writing and that i will no longer accept communication through text message or email. I also told him that i have been in contact with the police department in reference to the zip ties and that i don't need to remove them. I asked for the terms of the cancellation of my lease in writing so that I will have grounds for a lawsuit. Illinois State Law says that he has to give 10 days notice before terminating my lease. There isn't 10 days between now and June 1st. The notice also must be served to me in my hands and not posted in the house or put in the mailbox. His cancellation of my lease would be a breach of contract. I have also experienced emotional distress as a result of harassment and having to find some place else to stay based on fear. What kind of recourse do I have?

Thank you in advance

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Your written lease should list details on how to terminate your lease. You are correct that unless you have notified your landlord you are breaking your lease he has no right be begin showing your room.

You are, however, incorrect in your assumption that your landlord has to give you notice before he enters the property as a friend/boyfriend of one of the tenants. He would be entering as a guest, not a landlord and just as you would not need to get permission from your roommates to have a guest over, neither do they (or him).

Frankly, you need to sit down and decide whether it would simply be in your best interest to find another place to live. Many of these issues between you and your roommates seem quite silly to an outsider although they're not all that unusual when you toss several strangers together in a living situation. Sounds like your landlord and his father made an effort to attempt to straighten out all this infighting and offered to end your lease early to give you an out.

Gail

 

[emorgan0831]

If I were you, I would find a new place to live, maybe move your stuff into your moms house and stay there until you find a new place. If you are worried about your stuff being broken, you should move it out ASAP. Then you will not have the worry. Clean the room up to look amazing, and be done. You don't want him to be able to come back and say your room was messy. And please please PLEASE don't forget to take before and after pictures of your room. If this goes to court you want proof that it looked like this before and this after. By the sounds of it, they may try to alter the room after you move out and make you pay for damages that are not yours.