Urbana City Council discussed prohibiting landlords from discriminating against tenants based on criminal record and putting “criminal nuisance property out of business” at its Monday meeting.

The ordinance gives the city the authority to shut down a business if there are three police calls regarding criminal activity. It was tabled indefinitely by a council vote, 4-3.

Tom Hodson, president of the Homestead Corporation of Champaign-Urbana, said that from a lawyer’s perspective the ordinance is flawed.

“This ordinance should be based on a factual basis and not a pre-textual basis,” Hodson said. “It is very weak on objective standards and very strong on enforcement.”

He said the report was also ambiguous in a legal sense.

“The city said that it intends to have ‘good faith’ in the enforcement of this ordinance,” Hodson added. “If good faith can’t be used as a defense in court than it is just a lofty statement that has no meaning.”

Durl Kruse, Urbana resident, said he had concerns since the ordinance allows the city to put a landlord out of business without due process.

Esther Patt, manager of the Tenant Union and member of the Neighborhood Task Force, said this ordinance will do more harm than good.

“It’s good to fight crime but it is not the fault of the tenants or the landlords,” Patt said. “The intention is right but the ordinance is wrong.”