Seattle's Latest Insanity: ban criminal background checks

[M.C. Nachtigal]

I just saw the latest proposed insanity, set to be voted on by the Seattle City Council next Monday.  I would be surprised if it does not pass.   This one would ban all criminal background checks by landlords of prospective tenants.  So within a year we have the law about deposit limits, requiring landlords to allow tenants to pay last month/deposit in 6 installments, then the First in Time law, requiring landlords to take the first applicant to meets their previously-specified qualifications, a proposal requiring landlords to justify any rent increases with documentation of their costs, and now this preventing landlords from checking or using criminal background as a selection criteria.  For me personally, the obvious answer is that I need to get out of this business.  However, since I've barely begun, that's not going to happen immediately.  Some say that simply by raising rent and/or credit score requirements, that will weed out a fair amount of the criminal risk.  How would you feel about this?  Do any other cities have restrictions like this?