Some city landlords are overreacting to new rules designed to ensure that tenants know how and when to dispose of their trash and that they follow the rules.

A measure proposed by Councilman Bruce Kraus mandates that, when landlords sign up new tenants, the property owners must advise them of when trash is collected, when it is to be placed at the curb, what items are to be bagged for recycling and what is not suitable for residential collection. All of this is to be accomplished by having tenants put their initials to a series of statements that spell out the details of city garbage collection. Then the tenants and landlords are to sign the form and submit it to the city.

If tenants fail to follow the rules, landlords can be subjected to fines ranging from $50 for a first offense to as much as $500 for repeat offenders.

In response to City Council's final passage of the measure on Tuesday, some landlords complained that city rules have become too onerous. One threatened a court fight and another went so far as to suggest he'll stop managing property in the city. In other words, they got carried away.

Won't the landlords benefit if their tenants understand the rules and are forewarned about the safety and health hazards of leaving trash on the property? True, the landlords are the ones who would be subjected to any fines, but let's face it -- any landlord who gets fined as a result of a tenant's actions is going to pass it along to the miscreant.

Forcing owners to properly maintain and operate their properties is a key function of city government. Last year, council adopted two other ordinances designed to enforce safety and civility -- one requiring landlords to register their tenants at a cost of $12 each and another allowing the city to bill them for public safety services if tenants caused serious trouble three times every two months. Due to bureaucratic glitches, neither measure has been implemented yet.

But those regulations were neither too onerous nor intrusive, and the new, common-sense trash rules are even less so. Since a cleaner city would only enhance the landlords' properties, why wouldn't they want to comply?