Attorney Frank Avellone of the Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing (left) and lobbyist Tom Benedetto of the Chicagoland Apartment Association sparred during a Friday committee meeting over the Just Cause Eviction ordinance.

The Just Cause Eviction ordinance would bring to Chicago a badly needed set of rules already working in other cities to protect vulnerable families from displacement — or it would crush property owners with burdensome fees and restrictions, driving them out of the city.