Bedbugs, broken elevators, no heat.

That’s a taste of what residents of Hanover Square Apartments, a nearly 200-unit apartment building on West Conway Street, say they endure on a regular basis. Despite their repeated pleas for maintenance, a group of renters on Thursday said their concerns often go ignored.

“Many people who live in this building are older adults or people with disabilities,” said one tenant, Pamela Brown. “When the elevators stopped working for two and a half months, this was more than an inconvenience.”

It’s a familiar refrain in Baltimore. That’s why Brown gathered with City Council representatives and other government officials before a Thursday night hearing at City Hall meant to probe the progress of Baltimore’s latest tenant protection law. Framed as an “anti-slumlord” measure, the bill, championed by City Council President Zeke Cohen during his tenure as a council member, went into effect Jan. 1.

Hanover Square, in Otterbein, is one of several city buildings that the Strengthening Renters’ Safety Act seeks to improve. In accordance with the new law, the building joins a public list of the city’s top offenders, which includes 38 large buildings with a combination of long-term violation notices, multiple 311 complaints or failing federal housing inspection scores.

The “priority dwellings” list includes at least one Mount Vernon property owned by the flailing Chasen Cos., where residents have long complained about trespassing, water damage and broken doors. The buildings at issue range in size from 22 units to 444 and are scattered all over the city.

As the bill advanced through City Hall, opponents said they were concerned that the legislation could cause housing providers to incur additional costs that would be passed on to renters. The Maryland Multi-Housing Association, in testimony, said while it appreciated the intent of the bill, the city must step up the pace of its inspections and ensure that landlords and property owners have “actual knowledge” of any potential issues before they are cited as priority dwellings.

Hanover Square residents shared horror stories Thursday morning that they said building managers had failed to address. Brown said someone pulled a fire alarm recently to recruit the Fire Department to help residents get downstairs when the elevators stopped working.

Another resident of the building displayed a bag of dead bedbugs as a prop. Council members inched away from him and urged him to keep the bag closed.

The Baltimore City Department of Housing & Community Development revoked Hanover Square’s rental license in December, which provides landlords power to charge rent and evict tenants. Earlier this week, the housing department issued Hanover Square a citation for failure to clear snow in a timely fashion.

Representatives from Hanover Square did not respond to a request for comment.

A little more than half of all city residents are renters, said city Councilman Zac Blanchard, whose district includes the Hanover Square property.

“We should be confident that no matter how much you pay in rent, you can come home to a building or house that is safe, accessible and well-maintained,” he said.

At Thursday night’s hearing, council members gave public warnings to landlords and property owners who flout the law. Cohen, the council president, said the city could revoke active rental licenses of those who fail to meet with the city or fix up their properties in a timely manner.

“This does not affect the thousands of responsible landlords who abide by our laws,” Cohen said. “This law targets the worst of the worst who refuse to work with us.”

City Councilwoman Odette Ramos, who seeks to build upon the existing renter safety law with additional legislation, wants smaller buildings to be on notice, too. And future penalties, she said, could include receivership, or the court-appointed transfer of a property to a new owner.

On Thursday night, speakers said the city should prioritize enforcement of the bill. And some said that city inspectors should raise their licensing standards so that landlords are even more proactive.

“It’s about respecting people as human beings,” Blanchard said. “We’ve got to get this right.”