Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

I moved into this unit May 1, 2012 and have had problems ever since. The terms of my agreement allow for me to have a pet in the unit. I had one Yorkshire terrier (two when I first moved in but one was hit by a car and passed away). I allowed my pet to run in the courtyard of the building when I first moved in as I didn�t want him in the unit while I was moving. It states in the lease that pets aren�t allowed in the common areas (stairways etc) but I didn�t think that meant the only gated and grassy area of the building. A renter/owner of a unit in the building apprised me that my pet is unable to be off the leash in the courtyard so I leashed him and that was the end of it. A month later I received a fine from the landlord stating that I have been asked several times to leash my pet so as a result I am being fined 50 dollars. As a result of several emails back and forth and at my request the landlord gave me a copy of the association rules as well as a copy of this complaint/fine. Reluctantly I agreed to pay the fine and thought that would be the end of the issue. Two months later I receive another email from the landlord threatening to evict me and/or remove my pet from the unit if I continued to disobey the rules by allowing my pet to roam freely off of the leash, pee in the courtyard, and bark all day (new complaint). I work 10-12 hours a day and I am in college for 4 hours a night. With that being said, I am never at home during the day so my boyfriend at the time but now husband would take my dog to his home while I am away. In the mean time, the neighbors would make terribly loud noises at all times of the night/ early morning as well as leave trash bags left behind my back door. I would complain to the landlord about these issue with no results.

I felt harassed and forced to leave this unit so I requested an early lease termination in July 2012 from the landlord. The landlord approved this termination and agreed a Sept 1 or before move out date appropriate.

Any suggestions as to how to handle this situation?

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