Yet Edward Zuker, president of Chestnut Hill Realty, said the 30 percent ceiling is not high enough if property owners are expected to maintain the quality of their buildings.

"The proposed cap might be high enough if our only obligation were to cover general expenses such as building structures and heating, but what about units that need appliance repairs or new stoves and fridges?" Zuker said. "I hope other property owners don't try to improve properties the way I did because it's economically unfeasable."

Members of the Small Property Owners Association (SPOA), a group of Cambridge landlords who own 12 rent-controlled units or less, have expressed similar complaints regarding the lack of funds for maintaining the housing stock and the lack of means for accumulating such funds.

John Natali, who stepped down as SPOA's chair last year, said the proposal would work to the disadvantage of the city's 750 small property owners.

"A loan fund of a million dollars wouldn't even come close to solving the money problem, and I wouldn't want more debts anyway," the Cambridge native said. "Also, why can't the owners just get more money through a higher cap than with a tenant tax? Give me the money and I'll put it into the buildings. I don't want a third party involved."

SPOA member Lenore M. Schloning '59 said that a large number of tenants pay much less than they can afford.

"More than 30 percent of rent control tenants earn salaries above the median income and many live in apartments much larger than they need," Schloning said. "Therefore, both the low-income citizens and landlords like myself lose out--the ones who really need low-priced housing don't get it, and I'm forced to borrow money just to keep up my building."

But Councillor Myers refuted complaints that the wealthy are taking advantage of the system. He said that owners like Schloning have repeatedly exaggerated the situation to the point where the distortion is a widely accepted myth.

"It's less of a reality than the owners make it out to be," Myers said. "Only nine percent of the tenants are considered high income. And the housing access office, which would be established by the proposal, would provide landlords with incentives for renting to lower income tenants.

But Natali said SPOA does not favor this measure either. "I don't want a system with strings attached, especially when we're dealing with high-risk customers who may not pay rent at all," he said.

The group also compiled a list of 14 points neglected by the proposal, Natali said, including inaccurate calculations of owners' fair net operating income, and the lack of an exemption on two rent control units for properties with four to twelve units.

Natali said the latter measure would allow owners like himself to move out of the rent-controlled complexes to more comfortable living arrangements while charging a higher rent on the vacated units.

But Ford said he attempted to compress as much as he could into the 18 points--a difficult task considering the complexity of the system.

"I know that many weren't happy with only 18 issues in the proposal, as there could have been 50, but we tried to address the most pressing issues," he said.

Compromise On the Way?