A coalition of housing advocates last Monday demanded that City Councillor At-Large Michael Flaherty schedule a hearing on a tenant protection act. The bill, introduced by Mayor Martin Walsh in December, has split the council in a number of impassioned public hearings and remains in the Government Operations committee.

The Jim Brooks Stabilization Act, named after the late Roxbury activist, is designed to “protect residential tenants and former homeowners living in their homes post-foreclosure against arbitrary, unreasonable, discriminatory, or retaliatory evictions, and help ensure that tenants and former homeowners are aware of their rights under state law,” according to a statement from the mayor’s office.

Landlords would still be able to evict tenants for reasons including but not limited to: failure to pay rent, violating the lease terms creating a nuisance or damaging the property, or using the unit for illegal purposes. Tenants could also be evicted in the case of landlords that want to take possession of a unit for his or her own use or that of immediate family members.

Advocates from the JP/Rox redevelopment zone, the Allston/Brighton neighborhood, Codman Square and elsewhere in Dorchester, delivered more than 500 signatures to Flaherty’s office on Monday asking for a full vote to be scheduled.

They objected to 126 days that have elapsed since the act was introduced by Walsh. , It needs to be passed by the city council and the state legislature to take effect.

“Residents are continuing to be displaced daily without this minor protection,” they wrote in a release. “ANYONE in privately owned housing can be evicted for no reason when their lease expires, or any time if they have no lease. Under this new law, large landlords and banks would have to give a legitimate reason for eviction.”

Some city councillors expressed reservations on the order’s specifics at earlier hearings, worrying that it will unduly impact landlords controlling seven units or more, who would be subject to the new rules for evictions. Other councillors agreed with the principles of the bill in attempting to even power dynamics between tenant and landlords.

Future working sessions are likely before the act makes it out of committee to a full council vote.