When a controversial bill aimed at addressing problem properties in St. Louis County failed to pass the county council earlier this month, many hoped it would stay dead. The bill sought to create a license system for landlords renting properties with four or fewer units in unincorporated St. Louis County, but it also included provisions that critics said would disproportionately affect poor and minority tenants and could even harm victims of domestic violence.
There was also the matter of tenants convicted of crimes in the past year.…