Peterson accused the city in a November court filing of a "selective malicious prosecution process" targeted at him.

In testimony in December, however, Bunnow said that his inspection department has to spend between 5 percent and 10 percent of its time on Peterson's roughly 80 rental units, a disproportionate share compared to the 105,000 housing units in Madison.

"It's just overwhelming for staff because there is so many other places that we could be — so many other things that we could be doing," Bunnow said in that testimony. "It takes away from our ability to respond in a more timely manner from other complaints that we have received from other properties."

He later added in the testimony: "It's not hyperbole to say that there is no comparison that is equal to Mr. Peterson. I cannot think of another property owner that has the amount of problems, the types of problems and the consistent problems that Mr. Peterson has, and it would be unfair to associate any other landlord in the city with Mr. Peterson in the way that he operates his properties."