Court Story Final

A mother of three was evicted from a Pine Apartment property that she was forced to share with three sex offenders.

Heather Kallas, 27, and Jason Brunner, 25, signed a year lease with Pine Apartments in February 2004 only to find out later that sex offenders were moving in.

Sally Struensee, owner of Pine Apartments, said Kallas and Brunner were evicted for unpaid rent and unpaid utilities, but she declined to comment on the fact that sex offenders also resided in the house.

“I didn’t pay rent on purpose,” Kallas said in an interview Wednesday. “I wanted to get kicked out.”

According to Kallas, Pine Apartments leased the bottom portion of her house to three sex offenders. She has three young children, and she was extremely concerned for their safety as well as hers. She felt she had no other choice but to stop paying rent to get out of the lease.

Pine Apartments filed a small claims complaint against the pair in January 2005 with a list of fees. The total amount of money they claimed the defendants owed the agency was $3,247.

A mediation orientation was scheduled for Jan. 13 at the Winnebago County Courthouse. Mediation is used in order for the parties to try to come to a mutual agreement so they do not have to attend court.

According to the mediation agreement, both parties happened to work out an agreement that both found suitable. Kallas agreed to pay $1,700 in monthly payments to Pine Apartments until the fee was paid off. In return Pine Apartments agreed to release Brunner, Kallas’s brother, from this lawsuit.

Brunner had moved out prior to the eviction, Kallas said. She took full responsibility because she said she was the one who broke the lease.