The city, faced with a lawsuit by two landlord associations, agreed two weeks ago to stop enforcing the law until either City Council or the Department of Licenses & Inspections makes changes approved by the property owners.

The city or the landlords can ask for a hearing in Common Pleas Court in mid-July if no agreement is reached by then or if the order isn’t extended.

That legislative limbo concerns those who pushed for the law.

“We think their allegations about problems with the bill are not very substantive,” said Phil Lord of the Tenant Union Representative Network. “Giving the landlords control over this thing is really troublesome.”

Lawrence Fisher, an attorney for the Apartment Association of Greater Philadelphia, counters that the law is too vague, citing “health and safety” without defining those terms. And Fisher said it lets a tenant manipulate the law to avoid being evicted.