A bill snaking through state Legislature this week would slap fines as high as $500 on landlords who rent property to illegal aliens, a move many landlords support but feel it’s too difficult to police.

House Bill 1365, authored by State Rep. Tim Burns, R-Mandeville, would make it illegal to rent properties to illegal immigrants. But the bill — more of a “good faith attempt” to police illegal immigrants than a witch hunt for shady landlords, Burns said — is one that may be impossible to implement, opponents said.

The bill is pending final passage in the House of Representatives. If approved, it would then be sent to the Senate for approval before requiring a signature from Gov. Bobby Jindal to become law. As is, the bill would force landlords to check driver’s licenses, voter registration card or other proof of citizenship before renting properties to illegal immigrants. Opponents, however, such as Tammy Esponge, executive director of the Apartment Association of Greater New Orleans, said the proposed law is a Catch 22.

Federal fair housing guidelines prohibit landlords from obtaining proper identification until a lease is signed, meaning there’s no way to tell who is an illegal immigrant until after paperwork is properly documented, a move that may lead to costly racial profiling and discrimination lawsuits, she said.

“Let’s make this clear. We do not support illegal immigrants, but if our own government can’t figure out how to control the problem, how do they expect local people to police it?” Esponge said. “This is really going to wreak havoc for a lot of owners.”

“It’s unfair,” she added.

Esponge said her organization represents several landlords in St. Tammany Parish who have complained about the proposed bill, but not one such St. Tammany property has an influx of illegal immigrants renting homes.

But Burns said the bill was spawned from numerous complaints from residents in a trailer park in his district where droves of illegal immigrants were living. Burns did not disclose the trailer park’s location.

“There wasn’t anything they could do to police it,” Burns said.

So Burns filed the bill that, if approved, would fine first-time offenders up to $200 and two-time offenders up to $300. By a third offense, violators will be charged up to $500 and face six months in jail or both.

The bill follows a February plea deal where an illegal Mexican immigrant, deported three times, set his Mandeville townhouse on fire, killing two legal Chinese roommates. Alejandro Orozco-Benitez, then 30, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison, escaping the possible death penalty if convicted during a jury trial.

It was unclear if Orozco-Benitez signed the lease at 8 Caribbean Court in Mariner’s Village, but it was clear he set the mattress on fire that spread and killed Kai Zhang, 45, and Lin Mike Zhu, 22, from smoke inhalation after 3 a.m. June 2, 2005.

“This happens all the time,” Esponge said. “A legal immigrant will sign a lease and then illegal immigrants move in. How are we supposed to know that?”

Esponge said area landlords have worked for three years on similar proof of residence measures with federal and state immigration authorities, but no concrete solution has been adopted.

“It will be very difficult for a landlord to prove somebody is here illegally,” she said. “If this does pass, I truly don’t know what we would do.”