I know plenty of nice landlords that are good to their tenants. You may be fine with maintenancing your own property but many people are working on other tasks and want to delegate that. In fact, most people do not want to commit themselves to the maintenance of a property. It is something many people find satisfaction in. Additionally, some people do not want to commit themselves to living in an area long enough for the hassle of home purchase to be worthwhile. Landlords are also providing a service to these individuals. I appreciate all my prior landlords, they were all very nice people who provided me with a good service at a cost that was not unreasonable.

The landlord-tenant relationship does not default to exploitation out of nowhere. The type of people to engage in exploitative practices as landlords are also frequently engaged in exploitation even if they engage in other professions. They are exploitative because their lack of morality permits it, not because they are landlords.

Seething resentment against successful, landed people is not good.