As homeless Stadium View II residents sweat it out, NIU’s legal counsel is on the case.

Student’s Legal Assistance is doing its best to help students cope with living out of a suitcase, said Director Don Henderson.

“It is our opinion that the lessor breached its contract obligating it to provide housing to the residents,” Henderson said.

It is up to the students to decide what remedy they want to seek, he said.

First, Student’s Legal Assistance is regularly helping residents evaluate the construction progress and obtain realistic completion dates, he said.

Second, Legal Assistance is helping students get back their prepaid rent, security deposits, and any other damages if they’ve decided to cancel their leases, he said.

Third, the office is helping students get fair compensation for inconveniences and hardships they suffered through if they are going to wait-it-out, he said.

Also, Legal Assistance hopes DeKalb’s City Council will take steps to ensure future apartment construction sticks with deadlines, Henderson said.

But while the 86 students staying in the DeKalb Days Inn and the Georgetown Motel wait, they must search for a place to stay this weekend because their hotel rooms are slated for Homecoming guests.

In fact, their search will have to take them outside DeKalb.

“We’ve been booked solid for a long time,” said Donetta Domina, director of the Holmes Student Center guest rooms. No students have contacted her, she said.

Students tried calling NIU housing services, said Housing Administrator Margaret Schmuller. But there is no available residence hall space, she said.

“We’re filled to overflowing,” she said.

The apartments were supposed to be finished before the semester began.