Landlord Must Close Boarding Houses After Contempt Plea: Report

NAPERVILLE, IL — A Naperville man accused of illegally operating a boarding house faces fines and must close some of his properties after pleading guilty to criminal contempt and violating city codes, Chicago Tribune reports.

Several complaints had been filed against Terry Gaca over the span of five years, citing poor maintenance, noisy parties and "profanity-filled arguments," according to Chicago Tribune. Gaca was accused of running boarding houses at the following locations:

• First block of Bailey Road
• 0-100 block of Bunting Lane
• 400 block of Carriage Hill Road
• 2400 block of Lisson Road
• 200 block of Pepperidge Road

As part of Gaca's plea deal, he was ordered to serve 24 months probation and will be unable to lease properties in residential neighborhoods to three or more people who are not related to each other.

Gaca has also been ordered to pay $100,000 in court fees to Thomas Frederick, an attorney who lived near Gaca's property on Lisson Road and initially filed the criminal contempt complaint. In total, Frederick is pursuing $1 million to cover damages and court costs.

In 2020, Gaca and a pair of tenants gave sworn statements that they were the only people living at the Lisson Road property. These statements were later disproven by Frederick, Chicago Tribune reports.

In addition to serving probation and paying Frederick, Gaca also faces more than $766,000 in fines for violating Naperville codes while he ran the illegal boarding houses.

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