The proposal, introduced at a City Council meeting earlier thisweek, is an amendment to the city's Housing and BuildingMaintenance Code designed to protect renters from ownerretaliation. Representatives of the Apartment Association ofSeattle and King County say the proposal would make it moredifficult for owners to evict bad tenants by getting the cityinvolved in eviction cases already being litigated, and would haveserious repercussions on silent-partner real estate investors.

Chris Benis, immediate past president of AASKC and a real estateattorney who is acting as council for the association, says theproposed ordinance would open the door for tenants to filefrivolous claims with the city. But what concerns him even more isthat it would lessen the burden of proof required in criminalproceedings. "Under the proposal, you could be a one-tenth silentpartner in an apartment building and if a law was violated, youcould be charged criminally for the violation and the fact that youdidn't know it was committed or had no intent to commit it wouldn'tbe a defense," notes Benis. "I think it would chill people'swillingness to invest in real estate in the city of Seattle."

Under Nicastro's proposal, the burden of proof for some owneroffenses would be lowered from the criminal standard to the civilstandard. Owners could be punished under the civil standard if theyevict tenants, increase rent, reduce services, or "otherwiseimpose, threaten, or attempt any punitive measure" against tenantswho complain to the city about their building's condition orowner's conduct.